Raye's Magical Melody
by Edward'sTrueAngel
Summary: When Raye came to Flower Bud Village, she had her expectations. She expected to become a successful farmer. She expected to make great memories. She expected to find good friends. But she didn't expect to meet a handsome doctor and fall in love.
1. Springtime Flashbacks

Raye's Magical Melody

Chapter 1

Springtime Flashbacks

oOOoOOoOOoOOo

Okay, so this is my first actual real story that I've written in a long time. So my writing might be a little rusty, but I do hope that you read it and enjoy it and leave a review if you want to. So here's my new story.

oOOoOOoOOoOOo

"Another day of work," Raye said as she refilled her watering can.

Sitting it down, she smiled as she moved further into her garden and carefully removed a turnip. Glancing to her right, she didn't see Alex standing outside of his clinic. It was Wednesday, his only day off the entire week. Well, if he wasn't there then there were only a few other places he would be. It was funny, how well she'd come to know him since she'd moved to this village. It was a nice, warm day.

If Alex wasn't around the clinic then surely he must be standing by the river. That was his favorite place to be on a day like this. Moving away from the fence, she started walking down the stone path that led to the river. As she walked, she closed her eyes and enjoyed the warmth of the sun as it hit her skin.

Opening her eyes, she saw him. Standing by the river with a serene look on his face. His dark eyes were staring out over the water, looking at nothing in particular yet at everything at the same time. She saw the wind run it's fingers through his hair and longed to do the same. Her heart began to beat erratically. What was it about this man that always seemed to make her weak at the knees?

She saw him look at her out of the corner of his eye before smiling brightly and turning to face her. "Raye," he said cheerfully. "Good morning!"

"Hello Alex," she said as she approached him. "How are you?"

"I'm good. What about you?"

"I'm good. It's a nice day today, isn't it?"

"It is. So what have you got there?"

She glanced down at the turnip she was holding and smiled. "Oh, I brought this for you. I got it from my field this morning."

Extending it to him, she shivered as his fingers brushed over hers. What was it about his touch? Every single time he touched her, she felt even more alive.

"Thank you," he said with a blush. "You shouldn't have. I really love these."

She smiled again. She knew that he loved turnips. Other than veggie juice, it seemed to be his favorite.

"I know you do. That's why I brought it," she said, surprised by the boldness of her own words. "I knew you'd be happy."

She wasn't a shy person, really. Alex was the only person who ever made her feel this way. It was something different, something. . .beautiful. Usually, however, she was able to keep her cool on the outside even though she felt so unraveled on the inside.

"Well I know it's your day off so I don't want to disturb you. Besides, I have work of my own to do," she said suddenly. "So I'll see you later."

"Okay, later," he said.

With one last smile, she turned and walked away.

Alex watched her walk away and smiled. Why was it that since the day he first met her, his life suddenly seemed so much brighter?

From where he stood, he could see her ranch quite clearly. He could probably stand there and watch her working in her fields, tending to the crops that she loved and nurtured. Sometimes he'd stand at the window of his clinic and just watch her work. He'd watch the smile she'd get on her face as she watered her plants, the sadness when a typhoon hit and blew away some of those plants. And he'd see the happiness she'd get when she could harvest those plants and ship them off.

She was really something, wasn't she? He always had to struggle to keep himself together whenever she was around. For some reason, whenever he saw her, his mind would go blank and he'd be at a sudden loss for words. Today was no exception. He'd been looking out at the river, deep in thought when he'd noticed her standing there. He could see it all, the way the light hit her skin, the way her eyes shone in the early morning, the way the breeze tousled her hair.

And while he stood there and pondered the beauty of her, some part of his brain seemed to be able to function and talk to her. The other part? It had turned to mush, yet again. And he had to wonder yet again how it was that one woman could have such power over him. She had since the very first moment he saw her.

He could remember that day clearly. He'd been staring out of the window of his clinic when he'd noticed her come out of the house across the street. Nobody had lived there for a while and the land definitely showed it. As he stood there, he wondered if she remembered their first meeting. He sighed and took one last long look at her as she watered her crops before he looked back over the river. He had a feeling that she did.

Raye finished watering the strawberries and glanced over toward the river. In the distance, she could still see Alex looking out at the river. He wasn't looking at her, but she had a feeling that he had been only a moment ago. She smiled as she remembered the fist time she'd met him. She still felt a little embarrassed every time she thought about it, though.

It was her second day in Flower Bud Village. She'd just left her house to go outside and look at the work she'd need to do to make her land something to be proud of.

"This is going to take some work," she mumbled as she took notice of the weeds that had grown and the fence that needed so definite repairs.

Walking around the fence, she made mental notes to herself about what needed to be done. The problem with that was that she wasn't really paying attention to where she was walking and she tripped over a weed. She tried to catch herself, but it was too late. She fell to the ground and her knee collided with the earth.

"Ow!" she hissed as rolled off her knee and wrapped her arms around it. "I can't believe this happened!"

It was throbbing and it was stinging and she felt really clumsy and stupid right about now.

"Are you okay?" she heard a soothing voice say. She looked up and saw a man standing there. Her eyes met his, those dark yet warm eyes. What was it about those eyes that momentarily made her forget the pain in her knee? His hair was long and black and she had the strangest urge to run her fingers through it. He really was a handsome man. She shook her head to clear the haze that had engulfed her mind the second she'd seen him. As she looked at his clothes, she noticed that he was wearing a white lab coat. Could he be the doctor who lived across the street?"

"Miss? Are you okay?"

She shook her head again. "Oh? Um. . .Uh I-I'm fine," she said as embarrassed color flooded her face.

"Well can I help you up?" he asked as he extended his hand to her. She looked at that hand, looked into those eyes, and she took it. As he helped her to her feet, she felt a jolt of pain in her knee and groaned.

"Ow," she said as she shifted her weight to just one leg.

"It doesn't look like you are okay," he said, concern evident in his face, his voice. "Can you walk on it?"

When she tried to walk, however, she stumbled. This time, however, she didn't fall. Instead, she felt a strong pair of arms reach out and catch her. The man had caught her just in time.

"I guess I can't," she admitted as she looked down at the ground.

"Here, let me help you out," he said as he picked her up and cradled her in his arms. Raye wasn't heavy or anything, but this man seemed to be strong. He'd picked her up with such ease, as if she were nothing more than a child. She blushed right away, but for some reason she felt so safe in his arms. He carried her over to the clinic and took her inside. Sitting her down on one of the beds, she watched him hurry off to get something.

He came back with some kind of cream, a bandage, and some green concoction in a jar with a teaspoon. He sat down on the bed next to her.

"I-I hope you don't mind," he said with a blush as he gently pulled her leg onto his lap and dabbed some of the cream on her scraped knee before rubbing it in. After that, he put the bandage on it and smiled shyly at her. Next, he opened the jar and poured some of the green stuff out onto the teaspoon.

"What is that?" she asked him as he sat the jar down and put one hand under the hand holding the spoon in case some of the green stuff spilled out of the spoon.

"This is a medicine made out of herbs. It should stop the pain you feel in your leg, but I must warn you, it won't taste good. It's actually pretty bitter."

She opened her mouth and let him stick the plastic teaspoon inside. He was right, that stuff was bitter. But the second she swallowed it, she did feel the pain in her knee reside.

"Wow," she said. "It really works."

She watched the man put the lid back on the jar. She stood up and followed him as he put this stuff away. He wandered over towards his desk and turned around. "Where are my manners?" he said. "Well, hello. You're the new farmer."

"Oh, hello. I'm Raye. I moved to this village yesterday. I live next door, but I think you already knew that. And who are you?"

"I'm Alex," he said. "Everyone in the village calls me 'Doctor'. I'm new to this town like you, but I already love it here."

"I know what you mean. I think I already love it here, too," she said as she smiled shyly at the handsome doctor.

"You should really stay on top of your health. Since you're here, let me have a quick look."

"Well, might as well since you've already gotten a look at me knee," she said.

He laughed, but conducted a quick examination. It didn't take him much time at all to examine her. There was something about this man, she noticed, that she liked very much. She couldn't put her finger on it, but she knew it was there. When he was done, he smiled at her and nodded.

"As far as I can tell, you look healthy. Good for you! That's right, if you find some herbs in the mountains, can you ship them? Unless herbs are at the market, medicine can't be made. I'll be counting on you," Alex said.

"Of course I'll help you out," she said with a nod. "Besides, it's the least I can do after you've done so much for me already. Well, I have to get out there and work now."

"Well, I think doing things slowly, at your own pace is good," he said. "There's no point in rushing things."

"You're right," she said.

"You try to take it easy for today, okay?" he said.

"I'll try. I'll see you again soon, Doctor," she said.

"Hopefully it won't be because you're injured. Well, bye," he said with a smile.

"Bye!" she said with a laugh.

That man's smile. . .It was so warm, so welcoming. And while she was sure he'd given the same smile to all of his patients, for some reason she liked to think that maybe that smile right then was just for her. She shook her head at her own silly thoughts. She hadn't been in town for more than a day and she was already crushing on some guy. She had to stay focused because she had work to do.

Now Raye shook her head as the memory faded. She hadn't realized that she'd been staring at Alex the entire time, but he had noticed and he was looking straight at her. She waved at him and saw him wave back. Now she really felt stupid. She'd been staring, hadn't she? And he'd seen her. He must've thought she was some weirdo now. How could he not? How long had she been staring and how long did it take him to notice?

Raye got back to work and finished watering the crops in this field. She still had another field nearby that she had to work on. And she also had to feed her animals. She was running low on a few groceries so she thought she might as well stop by the Blue Sky Ranch on her way there.

As she walked by, Alex turned and waved at her yet again. She waved back of course and gave him a bright smile. She wasn't usually like this around him. Raye was usually able to keep it together around him and act normal. Today, however, was an exception. It didn't take her long to walk down the road and reach the Blue Sky Ranch. She saw Blue working out in the nearby fields and waved at him. He had his usual scowl on his face, but she knew better. Under that tough exterior was actually a nice guy.

And he showed when he actually decided to wave back for once before going back to work. As she opened the door, she smelled something nice coming from the kitchen.

"Hey Hank," Raye said as she walked inside.

"Oh, Raye. Good morning."

"Is Ellen baking something today?" she asked as she walked over and grabbed a few groceries.

"Yes, she is. You know she loves to bake. And I love to eat whatever she bakes so I'm not going to stop her," he said as she sat her stuff down on the counter.

She laughed. "Yes, I know. Last Thanksgiving I think her cake was one of the best ones I received. It made me feel kind of inferior when I thought about the cake I'd given to her."

He nodded as he totaled up the things she'd sat in front of him. "Okay, that'll be 1000G," he told her. She handed him the money and grabbed the bag he extended to her.

"Talk to you later, Hank," she said. "I'm sure you'll be at the Moonlight Cafe, right?"

"I usually am, aren't I?"

She laughed. "Bye."

She should have waited to buy this stuff until after she was doing working for the day. That would've saved some time. But now she was walking back to her house to put these groceries away before she went to finish watering her crops and to feed her animals. Today was just an off day she supposed. She was completely off of her normal routine. But she supposed that it didn't matter too much. As she opened her door, she wasn't surprised to see her puppy, Edward, running around her feet and wagging his tail.

Raye reached down to rub his head before she hurried upstairs to put her groceries away. As she came back down the stairs, Edward continued to run around and try to gain her attention.

"I'm sorry," she said as she went over to her tool box and made sure she wasn't out of seeds. "But I have to finish working, Edward. I'll play with you later."

The dog seemed to understand since he calmed down and watched her leave. Alex wasn't at the river anymore, she noticed as she ran past that way to another of her fields. He might have been in the mines digging up pontata roots. When she arrived at her field, she refilled her watering can and got back to work. Some of her cabbages were ready to be shipped. She'd ship them off when she reached her barn. Right now, though, she just worked. And she enjoyed yet another lovely day.

oOOoOOoOOoOOo

Disclaimer: While it is true that I love Harvest Moon, I don't own the game or any of the characters in it. However, I am the owner of this Harvest Moon fanfic. This disclaimer applies to all of the chapters of this story.

Edward'sTrueAngel

oOOoOOoOOoOOo


	2. Alex's Question

Raye's Magical Melody

Chapter 2

Alex's Question

oOOoOOoOOoOOo

Here's chapter two. I hope you read it and I hope you like it. And if you feel like it then let me know what you think about the story so far. So here's chapter two.

oOOoOOoOOoOOo

"Mmm," Raye said as she took a bite of the cheesecake Katie had sat down in front of her. "This is better than usual. Did you do something different to it today, Carl?"

The young man smiled from behind the counter. "Nothing different. I guess it's just been a while since you've been here," he said.

She shrugged and took another bite. "Sorry about that," she told him. "I've just been so busy these days. I have a lot to do, you know. But I'll try to come in more."

Carl laughed. "You have been working hard. Did you do some training to prepare for the Beach Festival? You blew the competition away!"

Raye laughed, too. "No, I didn't try to prepare for it at all. But I did like the look on Jamie's face when he lost to me. Especially since he likes to rub it in my face whenever he beats me!"

Katie sat in the chair across from her and Carl had come out from behind the counter. "You know, nobody was ever able to beat him before you came to town," he told her. "But now you're always giving him a run for his money. If you aren't careful, I think he might fall in love with you."

Raye almost choked on the piece of cake she was starting the swallow. Katie patted her on the back and handed her something to drink. "Are you trying to kill her, Carl?" Katie asked, only half joking.

"I'm sorry," he said quickly. "Raye, are you okay? I'd be so sad if you got hurt because of me."

"I'm okay," Raye told him. "I doubt he'd fall in love with me of all people. He's my rival after all. Besides that, I don't think I'm much of a catch."

Carl shot her a look that clearly said he thought she must be crazy. "Raye, don't you know that all the guys around here are crazy about you? Even the girls, though not in the same way, I'm sure. But you shouldn't think that way, you're a great catch!"

Raye blushed and looked away. It was true that she had very strong feelings for Alex. But it was also true that Carl could make her heart beat erratically, too. He was always encouraging her and making her feel good. And the cakes he baked and tea he made could always make her feel replenished after a long day of work. But she was sure that he was nothing more to her than a really good friend.

Carl felt like slapping himself on the head. He hadn't meant to say so much. But he was lucky that he hadn't said more. If he'd said more, then he would have told her that he was crazy about her, too. Did she have any idea? He doubted she did.

She was smart, but she wasn't always the most perceptive person. Besides that, he saw the way she looked at Alex from time to time. He had nothing against the good doctor, and these days he found himself being drawn to Ellen, actually. But even if him and Raye couldn't be together, he still wanted to support her as her friend.

"Thanks Carl," Raye said as she finished off her cheesecake, a look of pure bliss surfacing on her face. It made him feel good to know that the cake he baked made her feel the way it did.

"Next time you should try some of the cake that I make," Katie ventured. "I work really hard on it, but for some reason Carl never tries it."

Carl's face went pale as all of the color left it and Raye had to resist the urge to laugh. She'd never tried Katie's cake before, but Carl had once and only once. And he'd told her about it after that. Raye didn't think she'd ever try it after the story that Carl had told her.

"Maybe I will," Raye had said. "Though I'm just so addicted to Carl's cake that I'm not sure I'd be able to do it."

Katie laughed as she stood up. "So far the only person other than Carl who has tried my cake is Joe. But he looked like he might be sick after he ate it. But I don't know why."

Raye didn't really want to leave. She always felt so comfortable when she came to this place. But it was getting late and she had to get to sleep early. She had a lot of work to do if she planned on going to the Star Festival in a couple of days.

"Well guys, I have to go now," Raye said as she stood up. "I'll see if I can come back tomorrow, too."

"Okay. Take care," Katie said as she cleared off the table.

"Bye Raye," Carl said with a strange look on his face.

She didn't take the time to ponder his expression as she hurried out of the door. The Star Festival was actually an event for couples. She hadn't even gone last year. But this year, she wanted to go, even if it meant going alone. This was only her second year in Flower Bud Village, but she'd never felt more at home anywhere. It hadn't taken her long to get on her feet, though, and she'd made some great friends.

After leaving Cafe Calloway, she'd headed over to the Spring Farm to buy some more seeds. She was heading over toward the nearby bridge when she saw Eve standing there, staring out over the water.

"Hey Eve," she said as she smiled brightly at her friend, probably her best friend.

"Raye!" she said cheerfully as she redirected her attention. "How are you?"

"Good, good," she said. "You look a little sad."

Even shook her head. "I do?"

"Yeah, what's wrong?"

"I wanted to go to the Star Festival, but I can't. I have to do some work that night."

Raye leaned against the bridge and gave Eve her full attention. "But I thought that Moonlight cafe was closed on holidays. Why would you be working?"

Eve shook her head yet again. "Oh, you're right. It is closed. But Uncle and I have a few things to take care of to insure that the cafe keeps running smoothly. It's simple, really, but I won't be done in time to take part in the festival."

"I'm sorry," Raye said. "I'd be sad if I had to miss it, too."

Eve seemed to brighten up suddenly. "Speaking of the festival, are you going with anybody this year?"

Raye blushed and looked away. This only served to perk Eve up even more. "No," she replied. "I was planning on going alone like you were. But if somebody asked me, then I might go with them."

Eve nodded, as if what Raye had said made sense to her. She sighed and looked at her reflection in the water. But she suddenly cheered up again. "So who would you like to ask you to go with them?" Eve asked.

It was Raye's turn to sigh. That was easy to answer, wasn't it? The second she heard that question, the dark eyes of a gentle doctor flashed through her mind. But she shook her head to dispel her thoughts.

"Any friend of mine would be fine. I always have fun when I'm around them, so I'm not going to pick and choose."

"You're not fooling me," Eve said with a knowing grin. "But I'll take your answer anyway. Well, I guess you were on your way home, weren't you?"

Raye nodded. "Yeah, I was. I had some of the best cheesecake ever and then I went to buy some seeds. But it's getting late and I have a lot of work to do if I want to be able to attend the Star Festival. So I think I have to go."

"Okay," Eve said. "I'll see you soon. Stop by Moonlight cafe soon if you can. But you think about my question some more. You know, the one about who you would like to ask you."

"I will," Raye said. "Hey Eve, I think that I can see Dan out in the orchard over there. You'd better go say hi before he runs off somewhere."

It didn't surprise her to see Eve run off with a quick wave in the direction of Paradise Orchard. Raye sighed. Eve was so pretty. Raye wished that she could be a little more like her sometimes. Any guy could easily fall for her. But she remembered Carl's encouraging words and smiled and she continued on her way home.

The next day she worked pretty hard. Her corn and tomatoes were ready to be harvested at the same time. So that meant that she had to do a whole lot of shipping and a whole lot of watering. And on top of that, she had the rest of her crops to tend to and she even had to take care of her animals. By the time she finished shipping off the last tomato, she was exhausted. But she pulled the brush out of her sack and went over to say hello to her animals.

They all seemed happy today, as usual, and she made quick work of brushing all of them. After that she milked her cows. She was surprised to see that they all gave her special milk today. She must have been doing something right since they seemed to be doing so well. So she took the milk over to the corner of the barn and put them in their respective machines, shipping off the cheese and butter and left one of them as milk and shipped that off, too.

She wiped the sweat off her forehead and said bye to the animals before she headed over to the check on her chickens. They all gave her special eggs. This was turning out to be a strange, but good day for her. She even hummed herself a little tune as she walked down the road, even if she was very tired. She was wobbling a little as she walked toward her house, feeling as if she would faint. She wasn't too surprised when everything started to go black and she began to fall over.

And that was when she felt somebody catch her. But she knew before she even opened her eyes who it was. This warmth, the comfort, there was only one person who gave her that feeling. She opened her eyes and looked up at Alex. He had a disapproving yet concerned look on his face as he helped her over to the clinic. She sat down on the bed and waited for him to retrieve whatever kind of medicine it was he was going to give her.

He returned with a glass of something and sat it down before he reached up and felt her head. She felt hot from overexerting herself. "You've been working too hard again," he commented suddenly.

"I'm sorry," she told him. "I just have a lot to do today so that I don't have too much to do tomorrow."

"Oh. The Star Festival is tomorrow. You really want to go, don't you?"

She nodded. "Yes, you know I do. So I don't want to have a lot of work to do because I don't want to be tired when I get to the festival."

"Drink that," he said as he handed her the glass. "It'll restore some of your strength and wake you up a bit."

She took the glass and did as he told her, not surprised that he was right and that she felt much better by the time she drained the glass.

"So do you feel better now?" he asked her.

She nodded. "Yes, you always make me feel better," she told him. "Thank you Doctor."

"You're welcome. Just don't work too hard, okay? I worry about you when I see you like that. So try to take better care of yourself."

"I know, I know. I'll try not to work myself too hard. I'll see you later Alex."

With a jaunty wave, she left the clinic. He was always sad to see her go. He couldn't help the unhappy expression that surfaced on his face.

"You know," Martha said as she came out of one of the rooms. "You should ask her to go with you to the Star Festival!"

Alex blushed. "W-What are you talking about?" he said, flabbergasted.

"She loves festivals and you love her. Come on Doctor. Have some fun for once and take a chance. I'm older than you and I get out more."

He sighed. Martha was always acting like that when it came to him and Raye. But she didn't have to put that idea in his head. He had already been thinking about asking Raye to go to the festival with him for a while now. He was just trying to gather up the courage to do it.

He didn't want to ask her and then for her to turn him down or to say she was going with someone else. But she really wanted to go this year. He'd seen her when she decided not to go last year. Raye had looked so lonely. And he also had to admit that he wanted to be the one to make that loneliness go away this time, if she'd let him.

Raye yawned as she woke up and stretched. She'd left the clinic and gone home to get herself a good night's sleep. Feeling refreshed, she was happy that she didn't have too much work to do today. She supposed that working herself to death had been worth it. And seeing Alex also definitely made it worth it.

Turning on the television, she watched Mayor Theodore talk about how the Star Festival was that night and then she changed the channel to see Nami talk about how the weather would be today. It would be another nice day. She was very excited for some reason. She had a feeling that she was going to have a great time.

Edward her puppy and Gutchan her pig scrambled at her feet. Going over to her kitchen, she pulled something out for them to eat and played with them a little while before she grabbed her rucksack and made sure she had what she needed in it. She sat it down on the nearby table, though, when she heard a knock at her door.

She walked over to the door and opened it. But she didn't expect to see who was standing there. "Alex, good morning. What brings you over?" she asked cheerfully.

"Morning," the doctor said rather bashfully. She loved it whenever she saw him like that. "I. . .um. . .I actually came over here to ask you something. Do you. . .have time?"

For some reason, she suddenly felt very nervous. Her heart began to beat faster and faster. Why was he here right now? Could it be that he wanted to ask her to the Star Festival? No, it couldn't be. She dismissed that idea right away. Though she really wished that it would happen. "Of course I have time for you Alex. So what did you want to ask me?"

"You see. . .Raye, I was wondering if you'd like to go to the Star Festival with me."

She stood there, speechless. She stared at him, trying to make sense of what he'd just said. He must have taken her silence the wrong way because he seemed to get a little flustered. But she finally put everything together in her head. Alex was standing in front of her house and he'd just asked her to go to the Star Festival with him. It really just happened?

"Raye?"

His voice broke through her thoughts and she nodded happily. "Yes! I'll definitely go with you," she told him. "I'll go."

He smiled at her, relief evident on his face. "Great! I'll meet you in the town square later, okay?"

"That sounds good," she told him. "I'll see you later."

Alex hurried away back to his clinic and she shut the door and fell back against it. Alex just asked her to go to the Star Festival with him. She pinched herself. Yep, it wasn't a dream. Suddenly, she felt completely energized. She grabbed her rucksack off the table and ran out of her house, determined to get all of her work done early so that she could take her time to get ready for the festival. It was a date, wasn't it? A date with Alex. . .

Alex shot Martha a disapproving look. The elderly woman had spied on him, hadn't she? And she'd made it known the second he'd stepped into the clinic.

"So you and Raye are going on a date, are you?" Martha said excitedly. "She's a wonderful young woman. She'll make a great wife for you. Congratulations Doctor. Now you go out and have a great time tonight, okay? And don't come back too early or else I'll think that your date didn't go too well. You should think about dressing up for the occasion. It'll help you make a good impression. You should start getting ready right now. I'll go get Gina and we'll help you. You're very disorganized anyway, you're going to need some help. . ."

"Martha!" Alex said as he put his hand over her mouth and removed it when she fell silent. "I realize that you're trying to help, but I think I'll be okay on my own. I'll be okay, really."

She smiled at him and nodded. "Okay, I think you'll be alright. You just be sure to have a good time, okay? You deserve it."

"Okay, I will," he assured her.

She seemed satisfied with his answer since she left him alone. . .for the time being. People may have thought that Martha was a quiet little lady, but she was a completely different person when she was around him.

He glanced out of his window and saw Raye finishing up working in the field next to her house. He smiled. It was still so early in the day. But he was sure that in no time at all, he'd be meeting her in the square. And that thought was enough to get him through the rest of the day.

oOOoOOoOOoOOo


	3. The Star Festival

Raye's Magical Melody

Chapter 3

The Star Festival

oOOoOOoOOoOOo

Hello everybody! Here's chapter 3. I hope you like it. My reviewers have told me they think the story is cute, so I'm happy the story has been enjoyable so far! Hopefully this chapter is good, too. So here it is.

oOOoOOoOOoOOo

"Where is it? Where is it?" Alex said as he looked around the clinic.

It was almost time to meet up with Raye for the festival and he was going to be late! He didn't need to look at a clock to know that he was running out of time.

"Doctor, is that it on your desk?" Gina said as she peeked out from around a corner.

"Ah, you're right," Alex said as he picked up his white coat and put it on. "I really am disorganized, aren't I?"

"Um. . .You'd better hurry or else you'll be late," Gina told him.

"You're right, I'd better go," Alex said with a laugh as he rubbed the back of his head. "Wait, where's Martha?"

"Oh, I sent her to go check in on Dia real quick. So you'd better leave before she comes back," Gina told him.

"Thanks," Alex said as he ran out of the clinic. Gina shook her head. He was a great doctor, sure, but she sometimes had a feeling that he'd lose his own head if it weren't attached to his neck. It was kind of funny since Raye was a pretty organized person. She had a feeling that Raye could definitely keep the doctor in line.

Raye stood nervously in the town square, holding the boat they'd be sailing safely in her arms. As she stood there, however, you couldn't tell she was nervous. She tried to keep herself looking calm. But Alex was late, wasn't he?

'Wait,' she thought. 'What if he doesn't show up?'

She immediately shook her head at that thought. Alex would show up, right? He wasn't the kind of person to stand her up. That thought was enough to actually calm her down and she looked up at the steadily darkening sky. She smiled as she thought about the night that awaited her. It was going to be even better than last year, wasn't it? She nodded slightly. Yes, it was.

She heard footsteps approaching and turned around. Alex ran into the town square and stopped in front of her, rubbing the back of his head as he laughed somewhat bashfully.

"Sorry, were you waiting long?" he said. She smiled.

"No, not too long," she told him. "What kept you?"

"My coat," he told her. "I couldn't find it."

"That sounds like you," she laughed.

"Shall we?" he asked, pointing toward the road beyond the square.

She nodded and they began to walk. It really was a lovely night and the company made it that much better. The two of them walked side by side. She still thought about what had happened that morning. Raye really hadn't expected for Alex to ask her to go to the festival. Of course she'd fantasized about it, but for it to actually happen? She smiled as she began to hum a little tune.

She felt Alex looking at her, but she didn't look to confirm it. Oh, who was she fooling? She looked over at him and met his eyes, smiling brightly as they continued to walk. She didn't know why, but she felt really comfortable being with him right now. All that nervousness and anxiety just melted away the second she saw him enter the square.

Alex listened to her as she hummed something pretty. He'd heard that song before when he stood outside of his clinic and watched her work. It's not that he was watching her in particular was it? No, he was just standing outside to enjoy the nice weather and get some fresh air. But she was always working so hard in those fields, singing that song, and he could hear it.

"Alex, over there," she said excitedly as she pointed toward a dock by the river. Further down the river they could see Nina. But what surprised Raye was the fact that Nina was there with Basil. They saw them wave so they waved back. They were far enough down that they'd both have some privacy.

"So Nina and Basil, huh? Who knew?" Alex said as he sat down in the grass.

She sat down next to him with a thoughtful look on her face. "Now that you mention it, I do see Basil hanging out over near the Spring Farm a lot. He goes in their garden and chats with Nina. So I guess I should have seen it coming."

"See it coming, huh? So tell me Raye, did you see this coming?" he said softly before leaned closer, placing his hand under her chin and bringing her face closer, his lips brushing over hers.

Alex shook his head. Wait, did he just have some kind of a fantasy? He looked over at Raye, who still seemed to be thinking about Nina and Basil. 'I guess I was having some kind of daydream because I certainly didn't kiss her. . .'

He sighed. No, he didn't kiss her after all. "See it coming, huh? Did you see it coming? Me asking you to come here with me tonight, I mean."

She smiled at him. She hoped that it was dark enough that he couldn't see the blush that had crept across her face. "To be honest? No, I didn't. I had no idea that you'd ask me. But I will tell you that I am very happy that you did."

He smiled, too. So she was happy to be here with him? That was good. No, great. He was worried that asking her had been a mistake, that she'd just said she'd go with him to be nice. But she seemed to actually be happy to be there with him.

"Look at those stars," Raye said as she turned her attention to the sky. "Do you ever come out of your clinic late at night just to gaze up at the stars?" she said in a soft voice.

"Yes, I do," he admitted. "Sometimes I come out right after I close the clinic for the night to look at the stars. Other times, I like to look at them through a window."

They sat there in a comfortable silence for a while. They were both enjoying themselves until Raye looked over in Nina and Basil's direction and gasped. Alex turned his head to see what had gotten such a reaction out of her and he gasped, too. There was Nina and Basil. . .and they were kissing! Both of them turned their heads away from the scene and coughed nervously. Alex thought back to the little daydream he'd had and groaned.

"So," Raye said as she jumped up suddenly and grabbed the little boat she'd sat down between them. "What do you say Alex? Are you ready to send this off?"

He nodded as he got up, too. They walked over to the dock and they looked at the boat and down at the water.

"Should you do it or should I?" Raye asked, shooting him a quizzical expression.

"You can do it," he told her. "I'm okay with that."

She smiled as she got a sudden idea. "Hey, how about we both do it? We'll each hold one end and lower it into the water together."

"That's a good idea," he told her. "We'll do it together.

As Alex went to hold on to his end of the boat, his hand touched hers. He pulled back quickly and corrected himself, holding on to the opposite end. "I'm sorry," he told her.

"That's okay," she told him. "I don't mind."

His hand had been so warm. Sure, she already knew his hand was warm from the many times he'd stuck his hand on her forehead to see if she might have a fever. But this time, it was different. It was entirely unsettling, but in a good way.

"Ready?" he asked her.

"Ready," she told him as they lowered the boat into the water. It was so pretty as it floated slowly down the river. They sat back down, closer to the water and watched the boat. And they watched other boats that floated from upstream, including Nina and Basil's.

What Raye loved so much about the holiday was the peace of the night and the contentment she felt when she watched the boat float away. It may not have been very exciting, but it was something that she really did enjoy.

They sat there long after the last boat went by. Raye didn't know what time it was, but she knew it was late. And she didn't care. She would have to get up early to work, as always, but wasn't it worth it to go into tomorrow being tired from lack of sleep? They talked about nothing in particular and yet everything at the same time.

Nina and Basil had already gotten up and left. Raye and Alex, however, had tried to ignore them and had actually succeeded since they hadn't even seen them leave. Seeing the two of them kiss had made things awkward, but not for long. They'd already put what they'd witnessed behind them.

"You ready?" Alex asked as he stood up and held his hand out to her. She nodded as she took his hand and let him help her up, that same warm hand which had unsettled her earlier. "We both have work to do tomorrow so we should probably be getting back, anyway."

"Oh? Are you in such a hurry to get away from me?" Raye asked teasingly.

"W-What? Oh, no! It's not that. I just thought. . ."

"Calm down," Raye laughed. "I'm just joking. I didn't think that I'd actually be able to get such a reaction out of you. You're just full of surprises, aren't you Doctor?"

"Ha ha, very funny," he told her as they walked back toward their respective homes. They finally reached the road that separated her house from his clinic. She smiled.

"I had a great time," she told him. "It was a very pleasant surprise!"

"Well," he began cautiously. "Maybe we should do this again sometime."

She blinked, unsure if she'd heard him right. Was he suggesting that they go out somewhere together again? "That sounds great. Just stop by and say when. Goodnight, Alex."

"Goodnight," he told her as he watched her walk away. He wasn't sure if he should ask if she'd like to go out with him again, but she'd said yes. He'd really had a good time. But he hesitated before going into the clinic because he knew, just knew that Martha and maybe even Gina would be grilling him for details. What he hadn't expected was that even the shy and usually quiet Dia would be there, too.

The next day passed by like it usually did. Raye was hard at work and taking care of everything that needed to be done. She'd encountered Jamie earlier. And of course he'd talked the same nonsense as usual.

"It was pure luck that you beat me at the Beach Festival," he'd said. "So don't get too cocky with yourself. Besides, everybody knows I'm going to win the Sheep festival, so don't even delude yourself into thinking that you can."

"We'll see," she'd told him. "Becky's doing really good. I think that she'll give your sheep a run for its money. And if Becky can't do the job then I think Fuzzy could."

"Hmph," Jamie had said as he walked away.

She shook her head as she remembered that. Right now, however, she was sitting in the Moonlight Cafe. It would have been a pleasant experience had she not noticed the way that Eve had been staring at her rather expectantly.

She wanted to know what had happened at the festival and Raye knew it. Too bad for Eve that she wasn't up to discussing it at the moment. She'd only come to treat herself to some pizza and that was it. They'd have to have that conversation some other time.

"Ray," she said as she spotted the fisherman at the table next to hers. "What's up?"

"Oh, nothing," he said as he took a drink of what appeared to be apple soda. "So how are you, you name thief?"

She laughed at that. "Now is it my fault that we happen to have the same name? So have you done any good fishing lately?"

"Of course," he told her. "I haven't seen you out fishing in a while, you know."

"I know," she told him before she took a bite of her pizza. She chewed it and swallowed before she continued. "I've just been so busy taking care of my crops. I'm trying to expand my ranch. And it's a lot of work, but it is rewarding."

"You're a hard worker, Raye," he commented as he took a drink of his soda. "Just don't work yourself too hard."

She laughed. "That's the same thing the Doctor tells me. He's always telling me not to work too hard. Yet I'm always worrying the poor man, aren't I?"

"You're always worrying everybody," Ray told her. "But it's not a bad thing. The town got much more interesting after you moved here."

"Thanks," she told him. "So, where can I do some good fishing these days?"

He thought about it for a minute before he reached a conclusion. "I'd say the island. You know I've seen a lot of Snappers around there lately."

"Oh? You know, it's supposed to rain soon. That means I won't have to water my crops. I'll just take care of my animals real quick and then go home and get my fishing gear."

"That sounds good," he told her. "Who knows, we might even run into each other that day."

Raye finished eating her pizza before she said anything else. "But you don't normally go fishing on rainy days, do you?"

"No, I don't," he told her. "But if you're there, then maybe I will."

"That's cool. I'll see you if I see you," she commented as she grabbed her rucksack and stood up. "But now I have to go, so bye."

"Later," he said with a wave as she strolled toward the door.

Raye turned back and waved at Eve who was currently stuck behind the counter since Duke was in the middle of saying something to her. Eve gave her a quick smile and nodded at whatever it was that Duke had just said.

She was on her way home when she noticed a couple of mushrooms growing nearby. Edward and Gutchan liked mushrooms, so she figured that she'd give those to them in the morning. She stuffed them into her rucksack and went home. When she opened her door, she saw Edward and Gutchan sleeping. She shook her head as she headed upstairs to put the mushrooms in the refrigerator and get herself something to drink.

She had opted for some herb tea. Raye sat down at the table she had in her kitchen and sipped her tea. Looking at the clock on the wall, she saw that it was just after ten. She supposed that she should be getting to bed soon. It was funny, really. She'd always liked to stay up late. Becoming a farmer had changed that. But it wasn't an unwelcome change. She actually really liked it.

Winter would come soon enough, though. There were to no crops to be grown which meant she'd have a lot of free time. She planned going to the lake cave a lot and fishing. But other than that, there wasn't really anything for her to do. Raye finished off the rest of her tea and went to rinse her cup out before turning it upside down on the towel she left sitting next to the sink. She let out a small yawn as she went down the stairs and got ready for bed.

She rotated her shoulders to alleviate some of the tension. The day's work was taking its toll on her, she supposed. Her ranch was really coming along. Even Mayor Theodore had commented on it. He told her that he was proud of the progress she'd made and that she was doing a good job. She couldn't see Jamie nearby at the time, but she heard him snort for sure.

"I'd better get to sleep," she mumbled. Turning off the lamp on the table next to her bed, she yawned yet again and drifted off to sleep.

Summer was a great season for Raye. She loved growing corn and tomatoes. It was a nice day out when she came outside and saw that her corn was ready to be shipped off. So that immediately put her into a good mood.

"Corn. Corn. Corn Corn!" Raye sang as she removed the corn from the stalk and filled her rucksack with it. She was going to ship the corn off, but before that she figured that she'd put some in the nearby windmill. Her chickens were always in need of more feed and why go buy some when she could make some right now?

Wiping the sweat off of her forehead with the handkerchief she had tucked in her pocket, she looked up at the sky. Just when was the rainy day supposed to happen anyway? The sun was shining so brightly. Was the weathergirl wrong for once? Hopefully it would rain soon. Directing her attention back to the corn, Raye was looking forward to a soothing day of fishing.

oOOoOOoOOoOOo


	4. A Rainy Day

Raye's Magical Melody

Chapter 4

A Rainy Day

oOOoOOoOOoOOo

Well, chapter four is here! I'm happy that people are reading my story. Thanks to my reviewers, I love reading your opinions! Here's the next chapter, I hope everybody likes it.

oOOoOOoOOoOOo

"There you go Lelouch," Raye said as she sat the chicken down. All of her animals were fed and taken care of. She stood there for a minute and listened to the sound of the rain hitting the roof. She didn't have to water her crops today so she planned on going fishing. It had just started to rain when she got to the barn.

She felt like an idiot since she hadn't brought her umbrella or worn a raincoat even though she'd known it was supposed to rain today. 'So much for being organized,' she thought.

But if she ran, then she was sure that she wouldn't get too wet. Raye was doing just that, running, when she ran right into someone. "Oh, I'm sorry," she said to whoever it was who reached out and steadied her before she fell.

"It's okay," she heard a familiar voice say. She looked up into the amused face of none other than Alex.

"It's you. Sorry Alex," she said quickly as he laughed.

"Are you okay? You were running so fast that you didn't even notice me standing here."

"Yeah, about that. . .I left my umbrella at home today so I was running so I didn't get too wet."

She noticed that she wasn't getting wet right now even though she was standing still. Looking up, she noticed that she was standing under Alex's umbrella.

"Well would you like to share mine? I'll walk home with you. I was on my way back to the clinic anyway."

"That'd be great, thanks!" she told him. She noticed the sack he was holding in the arm that he'd used to stop her from falling. "So were you doing some shopping?"

He looked down at the sack in his hand and nodded. "Yeah, I went shopping. I just got a few things from the Spring Farm."

They began walking down the road. She wanted to go fishing, but she definitely wasn't in a hurry. "Well what'd you get?"

"I went to get some carrots and spinach," he replied simply.

"Veggie juice, huh? Did you run out?"

"Yeah, I drank all of the ones you brought me. So I'm going to make some more."

She shrugged. "Well I guess I can make you some more when fall comes around again, which will be soon. You know I'll be growing some carrots and spinach then."

"That sounds good," he said as he came to a stop in front of the river near her house. "So what are you going to be up to today?"

"Me? Oh, I'm going fishing today!" she told him happily. "I ran into Ray at Moonlight Cafe the other night and we got to talking about it and I decided I'd go fishing today. He told me that I'd be able to get lots of Snappers over on the island."

"Snappers?" Alex said almost excitedly. "I love Grilled Snapper."

"Really?" she asked. "How do you make it?"

"Oh, you need a Snapper and an herb and you stick them in the oven. It's really good. You should try it sometime."

"That sounds good to me, she told him. "Maybe I'll even make some for you since I'll be getting some today."

"Really?" he said as they started walking again.

"Sure. That is, if you don't mind."

"No, no. That'd be great. Like I said, I love it, so you'd actually be making me very happy."

"Well, here we are," she said as they came to a stop at her door. "Thanks for sharing your umbrella with me."

"You're welcome. Have a good time fishing," he told her. "See you later."

"Bye," she told him with a smile as she opened the door and went into the house. As soon as she closed the door, she placed a hand over her rapidly beating heart. She'd been so close to him, walking right next to each other so that neither of them got hit by the rain.

She'd been able to keep herself calm. She was getting a little better at that. Smiling, she ran off to go get her raincoat and boots. Once that was done, she put her fishing rod into her rucksack and waved at her pets before she hurried out of the door. She even brought her umbrella.

Looking over, she saw Alex standing outside of his clinic, staring up at the stormy sky. He noticed her and waved. She waved back. And then she saw Martha looking out of the window with avid interest. She waved at her, too and then hurried in the direction of the dock where her dolphin friend was.

Raye wasn't surprised at all to see Ray already on the island. The funny thing was that he wasn't wearing anything to protect himself from the rain. He was just standing there fishing. She shook her head. If he got sick after this, then it was his fault.

"Hey," she said as she went to the opposite side of the tiny island and started to fish.

"I thought I might see you today," he told her, not turning around to take a look. "Going after Snapper today, are you?"

"Yes. I want to try some Grilled Snapper. Alex told me about it a little while ago and it sounds good."

"The doctor, huh?" he said. "He likes Grilled Snapper?"

"That's what he said. So I guess I'll make him some, too."

Ray nodded absently.

"You're going to get a cold, you know," she commented, waiting for a fish to bite.

"I have a good immune system," he said to her. "And if I do get sick, I'll just go see the doctor myself."

"Oh? Well. . Nice weather we're having, isn't it?"

He laughed and finally turned around. "Yeah, if you call this nice weather, that is."

"Hey, I happen to like rain," she told him. "I just don't like typhoons."

She remembered last summer when a typhoon came and blew half of her crops away. Of course she didn't have that much in the way of crops back then, but that didn't make it any better. She'd had to replant her crops and tend to the ones that had survived. It was rough. She was hoping that she wouldn't have to deal with another typhoon this year.

"Oh," Ray said as he got a pull on his line. "I've got a bite."

Raye watched in silence as Ray made rather quick work of reeling in that fish. He held the red, squirming fish up for inspection. "This is a Snapper," he told her finally.

"So that's what they look like. Okay. Now I know what I'm going after at least."

She sat there for a couple of hours, watching Ray catch fish after fish. But she. . .she got nothing. Which was pretty weird since she was normally very good at fishing. "Okay," she said suddenly. "Are you and the fish plotting against me or something?"

The rain had stopped for a little while, but she didn't doubt that it'd start back up eventually. She was scowling up at the sky when Ray laughed. "No, we're not plotting against you. You're a good fisher. Just wait, you'll get a bite soon."

Another thirty minutes passed. Still not bites. She didn't have to turn around to know that Ray had an amused look on his face.

"Oh!" Raye exclaimed. "I have a bite. Some unsuspecting fish has relinquished its life to my superior fishing skills!"

Ray let out a big laugh at that and watched her as she reeled in her catch. For a minute there, he imagined what her reaction would be if she'd caught a boot or a can instead of a fish. 'That'd be fun to see,' he thought. 'She'd flip over that.'

"Ha!" she said happily as she showed him the Snapper she'd caught, which was actually even bigger than the ones he'd caught.

"Good for you," he told her. "Are you happy now?"

"Yes," she said, giving him a thumbs up. "And now I'm going to catch more."

And she did, of course. After she caught that first fish, she kept on catching more and more. And by the time they were done fishing, Ray wasn't surprised to see that she'd caught more fish than he did.

"Are you going to eat all of those yourself?" he asked once they were both on the dock. That's a lot of fish, you know."

"Of course not," she told him, waving a hand at him as if he'd said something ridiculous. "Edward and Gutchan like fish so they'll be having some. And I told you before that I was going to give the good Doctor some Grilled Snapper, did I not?"

"I see," he said with a shake of his head, the water from his hair splashing her in the face.

"Hey!" she said as she wiped her face, stepping off the dock and onto the path in front of it.

He laughed.

"You think that's funny, do you?" she said as she kicked water at him from a nearby puddle.

"Oh you're asking for it," he said.

With a laugh, she ran off and he ran after her. She always had fun when Ray was around. He was one of her best friends in the village. Plus they had the same name, so they both thought that was a rather funny coincidence.

"You should go home and dry off. I don't know why you went fishing without wearing something to protect you from the rain," she told him as they walked up the road near her house.

"Do you want to hear the truth?" he asked her. When she nodded, he continued. "I went out there earlier before it started to rain. And I hadn't given any thought to the fact that it was supposed to rain today. And when it started raining, I was too busy fishing to bother going back for anything."

She rolled her eyes. "I forgot to take my umbrella with me earlier, so I guess I can't rebuke you. But you know that taking the time to go back to your house would not mean that there would be any less fish out there waiting for you to catch them."

"You don't know that. For all you know, someone else could have been out there catching a fish that I would have caught if I hadn't gone back," he said as they came to a stop in front of her house.

"If that's the way you want to reason it, then fine. But I do suggest that you go dry off."

"I'm going, I'm going," he said with a wave. "Later."

"Bye," she told him as she opened her door and hurried inside.

She looked up at her clock. It was about ten minute after five. It was rainy day and she was hungry so she decided on going to get some stew. Taking off her rain gear, she went to put her fish in the refrigerator and grabbed her umbrella. Edward and Gutchan were busy playing amongst themselves. "I'll be back," she told the two, who weren't even paying attention, before she stepped out of the house.

Raye noticed it'd started raining again as she opened her umbrella and raised it above her head. She loved rainy days. The smell and sound of the rain hitting the earth was always so soothing to her, so refreshing. It looked like she was the only one out and about today. At least nobody was out where she was walking. But she was sure that she wasn't the only person who was actually out in the rain. There had to be other residents of the village who didn't mind a good rainy day either.

"Woof!"

Raye looked down as she stepped into Perch Inn. John, the resident dog, was standing at her feet and looking up at her.

"Hello John," she said as she opened her rucksack. "Do you want this?"

She held a mushroom out to him and he bit down on it, eating it quickly and wagging his tail at her. "Now you know I wouldn't forget about you," she told the dog as she rubbed him on the head and walked over to the counter.

"Afternoon, Raye," Doug said as Raye closed her umbrella and leaned against the counter.

"Hey Doug," she said cheerfully. "Nice day for a stroll, isn't it?"

He frowned. "Now you know I don't get many customers on days like these, with the exception of you and maybe Bob. And our guests upstairs."

"Maybe," she allowed. "But is there a better day to stop by your Inn and have a bowl of stew?"

"For you? I guess not," he said since she tended to come sometimes on rainy days and order just that. "So I take it that you just ordered one bowl of stew?"

She smiled and nodded.

"Gwen, we need a bowl of stew," Doug called.

"Okay," she heard Gwen say from the kitchen.

Raye went to sit down as she waited on her food. "So have you been training for the Fall Horse Races?" she heard Gwen call from the kitchen.

"Yeah," she replied. "I'll be able to participate in the race this year."

She thought back to last year. She hadn't been able to participate last year, but she would be able to this year. Raye had taken part in the Spring Horse Races this year, too. She'd come out of it a winner and Jamie had ended up a sore loser.

It was actually kind of funny because he'd flat out declared to her at the beginning of the races that he was the one who'd win and that she'd be sulking in a corner somewhere. But he was the one who'd ended up sulking.

"Here you go," Gwen said as she sat the bowl down in front of her. "Dig in."

"Yay!" Raye said as she grabbed the spoon and blew on it for a while before she stuck it in her mouth. "It's great, as always," she told them.

"How do you think you'll do in the Sheep Festival?" Gwen asked. "You are going to enter it, aren't you?"

"Oh, of course," she told her. "You know, I ran into Jamie not long ago and of course he told me that I'd lose and he'd win."

"That sounds like him," Gwen commented absently. "But I'm sure you'll beat him this time around."

Raye smiled. She'd been beating Jamie a lot lately. When she'd first moved to the village she hadn't been able to. But now that she'd been here a while. . .

"I'll do my best," she said before she ate some more of her stew. "I'm looking forward to the Fall Horse Races, though."

"Me, too," Gwen told her. "Don't go thinking that Jamie is your only competition, now. I'll give you both something to worry about."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Raye told her. "Though I'll only be in three of the races since I only have three horses."

Gwen wandered back into the kitchen. "Why don't you get a fourth horse?" Gwen called out.

"My barn's full. And I'm not getting rid or any of the others that are already there. But it's okay, I'm sure I'll do fine with just three races."

"There's nothing wrong with that," Doug said from behind the counter. "Just do your best and that'll be something to see."

"Thanks," Raye said as she stood up. "Well I think I'll be going now. But rest assured, I will be back."

"Bye," they both said as she exited the Inn with her umbrella in her hand.

Gwen smiled. If there was one thing they looked forward to on a rainy day, then it was definitely Raye coming through that door.

oOOoOOoOOoOOo


	5. Summer Fireworks

Raye's Magical Melody

Chapter 5

Summer Fireworks

oOOoOOoOOoOOo

Hey everybody, I've brought you another chapter! I hope you're liking the story so far and that you keep reading! I want to say thank you to all my readers and reviewers. By the way, a reviewer asked me if I've seen Code Geass and the answer is yes! That's where I got the name Lelouch from. So anyway, here's the chapter.

oOOoOOoOOoOOo

"Here," Raye said as she said as she bent down in front of Meryl. "I brought this for you."

"R-Really?" the little girl said. "T-Thank you. I love these!"

She smiled and patted her on the head before standing up. She watched as the little girl ran off into Paradise Orchard. The kid had only moved into town recently. Meryl was quiet and always seemed so sad. But Raye was trying to cheer the child up, to bring her out of her shell. And she was making progress, slowly but surely.

"Hello, my friend."

Raye looked over and saw Dan coming out from behind the building. He had obviously been collecting oranges. He had them stacked high in some kind of a basket. And while she knew that Dan wasn't weak, he seemed to be struggling with carrying it.

"Can I be of assistance?" she asked. "I can help you carry it inside."

Dan looked like he was thinking about that for a minute. On one hand, he didn't want Raye

to think that he was a weakling. But on the other hand, he was pretty sure he'd drop the basket if she didn't grab hold of it in like five seconds.

"Okay. Hurry, grab the other side," he told her quickly.

She grabbed the basket just in time and smiled. She couldn't even see his face over the tower of oranges. She had to admit that it was pretty heavy. "Gosh. You don't have bricks in this basket, too, do you?"

He laughed. "No, I don't. But now you see how heavy it really is."

"You must have a lot of oranges crammed into this thing," she told him as she slowly backed toward the door. Luckily, Meryl had left it open when she'd gone inside.

"I know," he told her as he steadily followed her lead. "Something told me that I should have taken it easy with the oranges and just gone for more trips out there. But I didn't."

"Just like Ray. The other day he didn't feel like going back to get a raincoat or an umbrella so he stood there getting soaked by the rain while he fished."

"He didn't get sick, did he?"

"I don't know. I haven't seen him since. But I did it, too. I left my umbrella at home and then it started raining when I was feeding my chickens. So I was running back to my house. I'm usually so organized. I don't know where my mind was that morning." She laughed and backed into the door, coming to a stop in front of the table.

"Slowly," Dan said as they lowered the basket onto the table. "Phew. I won't be doing that again."

They laughed at that and sat down. "Okay, it's not every day that I do heavy lifting quite like that."

"That's funny. Nobody typically calls picking up oranges heavy lifting," he said as he rested his head on his arms.

"Fancy seeing you two here."

They looked over and saw Eve standing in the doorway.

"Eve!" Raye said happily as Eve came in and sat down with them.

"Good afternoon," Dan said with a smile to Eve. "How are you today?"

Eve smiled back. "Just fine, thank you. What are you two doing?"

"Resting," Raye told her. "Dan here crammed a basket full of oranges. It was so heavy. I didn't think that oranges could be so heavy. Anyway, I helped him bring it in."

Eve giggled and shot Dan an amused look. "Why didn't you just make a couple of trips instead of one big trip? Isn't that what you usually do?"

He shrugged. They laughed.

Now that Raye thought about it, she hadn't been able to talk to Eve about the Starry Night Festival yet. But she wasn't about to talk about it when Dan right there. Speaking of which, it seemed that Eve would much rather talk to Dan than to her. She didn't know whether Eve realized it or not, but Eve seemed to have a crush on Dan. No, she didn't think that Eve had realized it yet. But she wasn't about to point it out to her, either.

She sat there talking to the two of them for quite a while. But she had a few more things to get done today so she decided that it was time to go.

"Well I'm going," Raye said as she stood up.

"What? Did me and my oranges chase you away?" Dan joked.

"Of course not," Raye said with a laugh. "Anyway, I'll see you two later. Oh, Eve, I'll come by before the cafe opens up so we can talk a bit, too." She supposed she'd dish out the details of the festival then.

She went and found Meryl still nibbling on the strawberry she'd brought her and smiled. Not wanting to disturb the girl, she walked away quietly and headed out the door.

"Herbs. . ." Raye mumbled as she reached into her refrigerator. "Here they are, right where I left them! Oh, and the Snapper. Okay, here we go."

Raye had a recipe book and had found the recipe for the Grilled Snapper. It was pretty much as Alex had said. She took her time in preparing the dish, wanting to get it just right. Alex had recommended it so it must be good, right? And besides, she was going to make some for him, too, wasn't she?

She smiled. She was actually pretty good at cooking. But she hadn't ever really cooked anything for the doctor before. For half of the first year she'd known him, she'd given Alex an herb every day. She'd wake up, get ready to do her daily work, and head to his clinic before anything else. But by the time fall had come around, she'd started growing some carrots and spinach.

Raye had heard about something called veggie juice and tried making it. When she tasted it, however, she figured out that it wasn't exactly something she liked. Okay, she thought it tasted disgusting. But it was something healthy and she thought that maybe Alex would like it. She was wrong. He didn't like it, he loved it. She'd came into the clinic as she did everyday, made her usual small talk, and then handed him the juice. He looked so happy when she gave it to him, so happy that she could have sworn she saw little hearts above his head!

Anyway, he loved that veggie juice. When spring came around, she'd tried giving him one of her best turnips. He had the same reaction. He'd loved those, too. But she'd blended the juice so it wasn't exactly cooking. And the turnips she gave him were straight out of her garden. And since he'd recommended this Snapper to her, she figured that this was yet another one of the things that he loved, and this one had to be cooked. And she hoped that he would indeed like it.

Sticking the food into the oven, she set the temperature and timer and went downstairs. Grabbing the food bowls her pets ate out of, she went back upstairs and got them something to eat. Then she took them back downstairs one at a time and grabbed their water bowls. Turning on the tap, she filled them both with water and sat Gutchan's bowl down on the counter.

Raye had taken both of the bowls downstairs at the same time once and ended up dropping them. She'd been so focused on not spilling any water that she hadn't noticed that Edward had come up the stairs and was right under her feet. So she ended up tripping and dropping the bowls when she'd struggled to keep from falling down the stairs. So now she carried one down at a time.

By the time she'd gotten Gutchan's bowl down the stairs and sat it down, she heard the timer go off on her oven. Taking the stairs up two at a time, she went over to the oven and opened the door. It smelled good, really good. It looked to her as if she'd done a good job. But she wasn't about to eat this. Raye decided that she'd let Alex be the first one to try it since he was the one who had suggested she make it.

Removing the food from the dish she'd used to bake it in and placing it on a plate, she looked at the clock on the kitchen wall. It was about five minutes after six in the morning. Alex must've just opened the clinic. Gong down the stairs, she glanced over her shoulder to see her pets eating and left out the door. She'd come back to get her things for work after she brought Alex this food.

Hurrying over to the clinic, she opened the door and stuck her head inside. Alex was standing over by his desk yawning. Maybe he'd stayed up late the night before. She shrugged. "Good morning," she told him.

He directed his attention to the head that was poking in through the doorway, her head. "Oh, good morning Raye. How are you?"

"I'm good," she said with a smile. "Hey, I brought you something."

He smiled and walked away from his desk. "What did you bring me today?"

She came inside and held out the plate of food. "I took your advice and I made some Grilled Snapper. So do you want it?"

"Thank you! I really love this. It's one of my favorite dishes," he said as he accepted the food happily and sat it down on his desk. "It's good, don't you think?"

"Oh, I haven't tried it yet," she told him as she leaned against the wall next to the door. "That's the first one I made so I hope it's good. Go ahead and try it."

He pulled a second chair up to the desk and motioned for her to come over. "I'll tell you what. We can try it together. Is that okay? Besides, I'm sure that it's really good."

She looked kind of reluctant at first. She'd made it for him, after all. She could always make herself some more later. But he was offering to share his with her. How could she turn him down? "Okay," she told him as she sat down in the chair he'd put there for her. But there was. . .one fork. That means she'd be eating off the same fork as him? 'T-That's like an. . .indirect kiss!' she thought suddenly.

'What was I thinking?' he asked himself as he looked over at her. She was sitting so close to him. They'd sat together at the festival, sure, but he'd felt just as unnerved then as he did now. But he did his best not to show it. He was known to be calm and collected after all, wasn't he? But he was just so happy that she'd made it for him and he wanted her to try it, too. "Here I go," he told her as he picked up the fork and broke off some of the fish, sticking it into his mouth.

She sat there and waited nervously. What if it wasn't good at all? What if he didn't like it? He probably wouldn't even tell her if he didn't like it. He'd most likely smile at her and assure her that it was good even though it wasn't. He was thoughtful of people's feelings that way. She imagined that he was the kind of guy who'd tell his wife her jeans didn't make her bottom look big even if they did. That thought made her want to laugh and smile at the same time.

"This is really good," he told her suddenly. "Really, really good! Here, try some!"

He brought the fork up to her mouth. 'Wait, he's going to feed it to me?!' she thought excitedly. 'Feeding me from a fork that just touched his lips?!' She obediently opened her mouth and he stuck the fork inside. He watched as her eyes grew wide. "Mmm, this actually is good," she said happily. "You were right."

Alex swallowed hard as he saw her close her eyes and chew the food in her mouth, looking like she really was enjoying it. Was he trying to torture himself here? He was feeding her now? He glanced around, making sure that Martha hadn't slipped back in. If she were to see this then she would never let him hear the end of it.

"You're a great cook, Raye," he told her. "I haven't had any of this in a long time. Thank you for making it for me."

"You're welcome," she told him, fighting back the blush that had been trying to engulf her face since she'd sat down. "Um. . .well, I have to go. You know. . .I may have had something to eat but my animals haven't. So I'll see you soon."

"Wait. Will you bring me some more tomorrow?" he asked quickly.

She turned around and smiled. "Of course," she told him brightly. Closing the door of the clinic behind her, she stood there for a minute or two with her hand held over her heart. 'An indirect kiss. . .Being fed by Alex? What is this, a dream?'

'That man's going to be the death of me yet and he doesn't even know it,' Raye thought as she stared at her red face in the mirror. She'd woken up this morning still thinking about it. Days had passed and she was still thinking about it. 'I'd better pull myself together. I have to concentrate of on my work and then go to the Firework Festival tonight.'

Breathing in the fresh morning air, she was instantly calmed, pushing the handsome doctor out of her mind for a little while. Humming to herself as she watered her crops, that sure didn't take her long at all. Her day seemed to be going pretty good so far.

"Hello!" she called as she entered her barn.

Her animals were happy to see her as usual. "Now are you excited because you missed me or because you're all hungry?" she said, only half joking. Her cows had been doing pretty good lately. They were always giving her special milk and for that she was happy. Her chickens were also doing well, giving her special eggs or good eggs.

'I bet Jamie isn't happy with this,' she thought with a smile. Checking her watch, she shrugged. 'I guess I have some time to kill before I have to head to the beach.

Raye passed by the beginnings of what would be her orchard. She'd planted a few trees before, but she wanted that piece of land to have many of them. 'I need to get my sickle and get rid of those weeds. And I want to make a fence around there, too.' Heading back to her house, she got her sickle and went to work on those weeds.

'Now about that fence. . .' She didn't get much time to think about it since she spotted the beach not too far away. There were already plenty of people assembled. Everybody seemed as excited as she was and she ran over there to join in.

Mayor Theodore had just started saying something when she got there. "Good evening! Welcome to the Firework Festival! Please enjoy this beautiful festival in our summer evening sky!"

Raye nodded at the Mayor and looked around. She spotted a guy who she hadn't seen around the village before and went over to see who he was.

"Hello," she told him when she reached him. "I haven't seen you around before. I'm Raye. Who are you?"

"Hey, nice to meet you," the young man said. "My name is Louis. I love the fireworks at this village and I come here yearly to watch."

'Hmm. . .' she thought. 'I didn't see him around last year. I guess that's my fault, though.'

"I hope I see you again. If you're around, let's hang out," he finished.

Raye smiled and nodded. He seemed really nice so she figured it would be okay to hang out with him. "Okay," she told him. "That sounds good. We'll hang out sometime. I'll talk to you later, then."

He nodded and she walked off, looking to see who else was here. She saw Ann and her father standing near the shore. "Hey Ann," she said as she made her way over there. "Are you enjoying the festival? Do you like fireworks?"

"Fireworks are nice!" Ann said. "I like to feel the vibrations from the explosions in the sky!"

'Oh,' Raye thought as she spotted someone standing near Ann. 'It's Jamie.'

"Jamie," Raye said, used to the look that Jamie shot her. "How about you? Are you enjoying the festival, too?"

She could have sworn that she saw Jamie roll his eyes. "Of the things people have made, fireworks are bearable."

"I guess I'll take that as a yes, correct?" she told him.

"Leave me alone," he said.

"Well, fireworks displays are sure nice," she heard Michael say."

"I think so, too. I love fireworks. Don't you just love all the colors?"

Michael nodded.

She didn't stay over there with them for long. Looking away, Raye noticed Ray waving at her.

She ran over to Ray, who was standing off to the side. "Hey Ray. It's a nice evening, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is," he told her. "I really like fireworks."

"Of course you do. We have the same name so maybe we'd share things we like, too? Fireworks are great, aren't they?"

He laughed. "They vanish in an instant, but they remain in the heart."

She glanced over and saw Basil. She still felt a little weird around him and Nina after seeing their kiss. But as far as he knew she didn't see so she was going to act like it.

"Fireworks fall short of actual flowers, but they are also pretty," he said to her from where he was standing.

Raye stood there talking to them for a while. They made pleasant conversation. She was really enjoying herself. There were a few more people for her to talk to so she eventually left them to go talk to others. Finally, she spotted Alex standing off by himself, his eyes closed. He looked peaceful and she didn't want to disturb him. She was getting ready to walk away when he opened his eyes.

"Oh, it's you, Raye," he said with a smile.

"Hey," she said. "You look like you're enjoying yourself."

She came to stand next to him and looked up at the stars. It really was a great night.

"I am," he told her. "Fireworks are a traditional skill and a traditional beauty, too," he said after a while.

"Nicely put," she said with a smile."

"So are you having fun?"

"Of course," she told him. "You know I love festivals."

He smiled. That was true. She really did enjoy festivals. He had hoped that she would come over to stand with him. He'd been watching her talk to everybody else all night. He was starting to think she'd never notice him. Then again, he was standing away from most of the hustle and bustle, wasn't he?

"Hey, it's finally the main event!" Theodore said loudly.

"Yay!" Raye said excitedly. She fell silent and looked up at the sky. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Alex doing the same.

"Beautiful," she heard him mumble as she watched the fireworks steadily flash up in the sky. But what she didn't know was that when he said that, he wasn't looking up at the fireworks. He was actually looking at her.

oOOoOOoOOoOOo


	6. Katie and the Cake

Raye's Magical Melody

Chapter 6

Katie and the Cake

oOOoOOoOOoOOo

Hey everybody! I know this is a little late, but Happy Thanksgiving! Thanks for reading my story so far. Here's another chapter for you to read!

oOOoOOoOOoOOo

"Want some?" Raye asked to the dog sitting on the floor in front of her. Edward wagged his tail in excitement. Pouring the last of her popcorn into her hand, she held it out to the puppy and let him eat it. Gutchan was sleeping in a corner so the pig had missed out on the treat. Raye turned the heater on. It was now fall, so the weather was getting a little colder. At least it seemed to be getting colder inside her house.

But fall was actually her favorite season. It was also when she was born, so her birthday was coming up soon. Summer was finally over. It was a pretty great season, all things considered. The sheep festival had arrived and Jamie had looked so confident. Raye still remembered the look on his face when it was announced that her sheep was the winner. He had beaten her last year. Then again, it was her first sheep festival, too.

She supposed that he thought that this year would be no different. He was wrong. But she didn't rub it in his face or anything. She told him he did a good job and that she looked forward to next year. He snorted and walked off.

But she didn't let it bother her. That was just how Jamie was. She'd been working hard for days now. After all, there was a lot to be done when the seasons changed. She had to take the hoe out and get rid of the crops from the summer.

And she had to start planting crops for the fall. And somehow a few weeds had appeared in her fields so she'd had to take care of those, too. And her fence needed to be fixed in a couple of spots. But she'd felt so proud of herself after she'd done all of that.

Standing back and admiring her work, she'd nodded. It'd be worth it as soon as those crops were ready to be harvested. This years crops would be better than last years, of course. With a little experience under her belt and hard work, she was confident.

Edward joined Gutchan in the corner and laid down to take a nap. Raye was laying on the couch watching the television. But there wasn't anything good on. Glancing at her bookshelf, she sighed. She didn't have anything interesting to read, either.

"Guess I'll go out," she mumbled. "I can go check out a library book."

She just didn't understand how it could still be warm outside yet so cold in her house. Stepping outside, she noticed how cloudy it was. She'd seen on the weather earlier that it was supposed to rain soon. It'd probably get a little colder outside after that. Walking idly in the direction of the library, she breathed in the crisp afternoon air.

'Detour,' she thought as she veered to the right. She could smell the assortment of cakes and other deserts at Cafe Callaway.

"Well look who's back," Carl said as Raye came through the door and came over to the counter. "What brings you here?"

She smiled and took the steaming cup he sat in front of her. "I was on my way to the library when I couldn't resist your cafe any longer."

He laughed. "Of course not." He watched her take a sip of the cocoa as she went to sit in a chair in front of the counter. She slipped into the chair without moving the cup from her lips. "Do you want something to eat?"

"Surprise me," she said as she sat the cup down. "Hey, where's Katie?"

He left the room, but he did answer her. "She has the day off. I finally convinced her to try some of her own cake."

Raye made a face that she knew he couldn't see. "Did she get sick?

"A little. She's asleep in the back. But at least she can see where she's going wrong and correct herself. I'm sure she will be able to make great cakes someday!"

'Carl is always so optimistic,' she thought with a smile. 'He always believes in people.'

She sighed. Carl was so sweet and friendly. And he always made her feel good no matter what. 'What if I hadn't fallen for Alex so quickly? What if I'd met Carl first?' She shook her head. No, she was sure that even if she had met Carl first, she still would have fallen for Alex. Other than Eve, Carl was her best friend. She adored him, but she just didn't feel the same way about him that she did about Alex.

"Here you go," Carl said as he came back. He sat a slice of yam pie down in front of her. "Next time you should try some chestnut cake, too."

He watched her take a bite of pie. She closed her eyes and smiled. It was really good, as always. "How do you and Ellen do it? You two always bake the best deserts."

"We could tell you our secrets, but then we'd have to kill you!" Carl joked. She laughed.

"But I think I will die if I can't figure your secret out."

"How about this," he said as he leaned against the counter next to her. "You keep coming here and eating my desserts. That way you won't need to know the recipe and you won't have to die."

"And you'll get to see me, of cause!" she said enthusiastically.

"Yes," he told her. "There's that, too!"

They sat there laughing and talking for quite a while. Raye had decided to help herself to some of that chestnut cake that Carl had mentioned before. And after that, she had a piece of cheesecake, too. "Is this why you're so upbeat and enthusiastic all the time?" Raye asked while she rocked back and forth.

"What do you mean?"

"Because you make all this dessert, you must eat a lot of it. And those desserts have sugar in them. And sugar tends to make people hyper and happy. Kind of like I am right now."

He'd seen her like this before. Give her enough sweets and she was ready to run off and do anything she set her mind to. If this was still in the morning and she went out to water her crops, she'd probably be moving so fast that she'd be done in no time at all. He laughed.

"Maybe. Maybe not. Is that what you think I am? Upbeat and enthusiastic?"

"Definitely," she said with a nod. "And your happiness makes others happy, too. Like I could walk in here upset after having a bad day and walk out feeling great."

He smiled at that. "Kind of similar to Ellen," she continued. "She's so nice and friendly that she can make you happier, too."

"So what have you been up to today?" he asked when she fell silent for a while.

Raye sipped at some tea he'd brought her and appeared to be thinking about the answer to his question. "Well I watered my crops, fed my animals, and I went home. So I was just lounging around my house. I updated my house, too. Did you notice?"

"Oh, I did. It looks great!" he told her, displaying some of that enthusiasm she liked.

"Thanks. Anyway, I had some popcorn earlier. I have a lot of corn in my refrigerator from summer so I used it. I was just laying on my couch watching TV. But there was nothing good on so I decided to. . .Oh. . ."

"Oh?"

"I completely forgot I was heading to the library when I stopped here."

"Well I'd hate to see you go, but you should get over there, right?"

She frowned and pushed her cup aside before she stood up. "Yeah, I have to go. But don't worry. I'll be back soon enough!"

"I'll be looking forward to it," he said happily as they waved at each other."

Raye hurried out of the cafe. She really wanted to get a good book to read whenever she had some free time. The library wasn't that far from the cafe so it didn't take her much time to get there.

"Hello Maria," Raye said as entered the library.

"Ah, hello Raye. Can I help you?"

Raye knew Maria, sure, but they weren't that close. But she did seem like a nice girl. In fact, Raye was actually closer to her father, Theodore. But she smiled pleasantly and nodded. "I need a good book to check out. So I'll go look for one."

"Okay, go ahead," Maria told her. "Let me know if you need anything."

Raye walked around, looking at the books. Nothing actually sounded good to her. She sighed.

"Are you okay?" Maria asked.

"I can't find anything," Raye admitted. "Do you have any suggestions?"

Maria smiled and hurried over. She reached over to the right and pulled out a book. "Here. Try this one. I think you'll like it."

Taking the book, Raye opened it and read a page.

"The Bed in the Sky. . .At night, I get in bed and close my eyes. As I lie in my bed, I fly into the Land of Nod and dreams. While gazing at the stars, I climb clouds and dance with the moon. I see the sky in the horizon where night and day intertwine. My bed, a bed that flies through the skies," Raye read. "Wow, that's so pretty. I do like this."

"I thought you would. You look like the poetry type."

"I am," Raye confessed. "You're good. I guess that's why you're the librarian."

"Thanks," Maria said happily. "So are you going to check that one out?"

"I think I will," Raye told her. She walked over to the counter and signed a small card that she took from the book and handed it to Maria.

Reading the book, she left the library. It was just now five thirty so she figured she could go back to the coffee shop and talk to Carl some more. Not looking up as she slipped into the cafe, she sat down in the same seat she'd vacated earlier.

Feeling someone's presence, she looked to her side. "Aaah!" she said as she jumped back. Katie was standing right there looking like she'd died and come back from the dead. "A-A-Are you okay? What am I saying? Of course you aren't! You shouldn't be out of bed."

Katie didn't respond. Raye waved a hand in front of her face and she didn't even react.

"Oh, you're back so soon?" Carl asked as he came into the room.

"Yes, I am. Um. . .Carl?"

"Yes?"

"What did Katie put into that cake she ate?"

"I don't know. Why?"

"Because," she said as she pointed at Katie. "Whatever it was it did that to her!"

"Aaah!" Carl said as he jumped back when he noticed her. "When did she get there?!"

"I don't know! I didn't notice her when I came in, but I looked over and there she was!"

"Help me get her back to her bed!" Carl said, flustered.

"Wait, maybe we should get the doctor?!"

Carl looked at Katie and nodded. "That's a good idea. Hurry, go get him!"

"Okay!" Raye said as she ran out the door and over to the clinic.

Alex was just coming out the clinic when she reached him. "Come with me!" she said as she grabbed his hand and yanked him after her as she ran.

"W-What? What's going on?!" he asked as he complied.

"I was at Cafe Callaway most of the afternoon and Katie looks awful! She had some of her own cake and you know how they are. Then again, you don't go to the cafe, do you? Anyway, she's sick and you are the doctor!"

He raised his eyebrows, an expression she didn't see since she was running in front of him. "Is she that bad?" he asked, surprised by how she was acting.

"Maybe it's the fact that I had a lot of dessert earlier that has me so worked up, but she really does look bad in my opinion."

"Aaah!" Alex said as he jumped back. "Wow. . .Okay. We need to get her to a bed."

They nodded and helped him take her to a bed and lay her down. Carl sighed. "I know that I wanted her to try her own cake but I didn't think it'd end up like this."

"It's not your fault, Carl," she told him. "Besides, I'm sure that Alex will make things better. Right Alex?"

He nodded. "Okay, you keep an eye on her while I go back to the clinic, okay?" He hurried out of the cafe.

Katie sat up in the bed. "Aaah!" Raye and Carl exclaimed. They pushed her back down. She sat back up again before falling back down. "This. . .This is scary, they both mumbled"

Alex came back quickly enough. She sat up again. "Aaah!" he said. "I think this should work. If it doesn't. . .?"

"It'll be fine," Raye said confidently. "How fast does that stuff work?"

After Alex gave her the medicine, Katie laid back down and went limp. Her breathing evened out and she fell asleep. "It works really fast," Alex replied. "I'd say she's going to be out for at least a day, but she'll feel much better. When she wakes up, please bring her by the clinic so that I can have another look at her. And whatever was in that cake, don't let her put in it again."

Carl nodded. Alex stood up and sighed. "I have to close the clinic up now, so I have to go. But you watch her closely tonight and if anything strange does happen, then feel free to come get me."

Raye left the room and sank into the chair she'd pretty much jumped out of. Now this had been tiring. Alex and Carl came out from the back. "Herb tea?" Carl asked as Raye shot him a look. She nodded.

"I'll be going now," Alex said.

"Wait," Raye said as she reached out and grabbed the back of his coat. "You like herb tea. Sit down and have some, okay?"

Alex sighed and sat down next to her. He rubbed the back of his head. 'Whoa, too much sugar,' Raye thought. 'Now that I think about it. . .' She blushed slightly, remembering how she'd grabbed Alex's hand to bring him to the cafe. 'I-It was so warm. . .Oh my gosh.'

She banged her head against the book in front of her. Both Alex and Carl shot her a questioning look but didn't comment on it. Carl sat a cup of tea down in front of them both. It had been a very long afternoon.

oOOoOOoOOoOOo


	7. Raye, Alex, and the Stew

Raye's Magical Melody

Chapter 7

Raye, Alex, and the Stew

oOOoOOoOOoOOo

Hi everybody. I'm sorry I haven't been able to update lately, but I am very sick right now. I want to get the last two chapters written, but until I get better, I'll have to put that on hold. Hopefully I'll get well soon and be able to focus on this story. But until then, here's another chapter. I hope you enjoy it.

oOOoOOoOOoOOo

"Do me a favor," Alex said when Raye came into his clinic to give him some veggie juice.

"Oh?" Raye said as she sat the juice down on his desk.

"Okay, two favors."

"Two? Well what are they?"

He rubbed the back of his head in his usual fashion. "Well they both have to do with Carl's cafe. . ."

"Ah!" she said. "He bakes the best desserts! So what is it?"

"Well the first thing I want to say is that I'd advise you against eating Katie's cakes. I don't know what she put in there. I could have found out if I did a suitable test on her. However, my top priority was to make sure that she recovered. But whatever was in it wasn't good."

"I know that," Raye said. "I've never tried Katie's cake. Carl warned me before I could. And after seeing Katie like that, I'll definitely stay away from it. But thank you for worrying about me, Doctor."

"I don't get out much, as you probably already know, so I don't get to go to the coffee shop."

"I know," Raye spoke. "Whenever I'm in there and I see Martha she's telling me how you should come there and get out more." The look on his face when she said that was priceless in her opinion.

"I wouldn't put it past her," he said. Martha was conspicuously absent and Gina was over at the Sanatorium. "Anyway, I never knew it before but you get really out of hand when you ingest too much sugar. I would personally recommend that you don't eat as much in one trip to Cafe Callaway."

"Oh? Is that your opinion as my friend or as my doctor?" she asked as she pulled some pudding and a spoon out of her rucksack. It amused her when Alex snatched it out of her hand and sat it on his desk next to the juice she'd left.

"Both. I'm your friend and your doctor and as both I am concerned. So just humor me, okay?"

She made a face as if she was thinking hard about it even though they both knew that she wasn't. "Okay. I'll try to control myself. But I just went overboard because I hadn't been there in a while. I had to catch up with Carl and while I was sitting there he kept offering me things and they looked so good that I couldn't refuse."

"So if you hadn't been to the clinic for a while and then showed up one day, you'd sit here and talk to me and eat a lot of healthy food if I sat it down in front of you?"

That made her laugh. "I guess that depends on what healthy food it was. But I would enjoy talking to you."

He laughed, too. "I don't think I make for great conversation, really."

"Of course you do," Raye told him. "You're selling yourself short, aren't you?"

"Well aren't you cheerful today," he commented as he grabbed the cup of veggie juice and took a drink.

"Yes. I harvested my crops yesterday. And I also did some replanting and a lot of watering. You know that the carrots and pumpkins and spinach have to be replanted. By the way I put some up to make you some more veggie juice. And I had to shear my sheep and make some yarn. And then I thought I might dye some of that, too. Oh, and I thought I'd get a little training in on my horses since the Fall Horse Race is just around the corner, you know. And I still thought I'd do a little shopping. Anyway, I did all of that."

"That sounds like a lot of work. I'd think you'd be exhausted."

"You would, wouldn't you? But you gave me a stamina drink a little while back, remember? I drank that. But. . ."

"But?"

"But I made another one and drank that, too!"

"You're only supposed to drink one a day at most. Anything more and I recommend that you consult your doctor and that would be me. If you're still tired after having one stamina drink then I think it's obvious that you need to go home and rest."

"Oh Alex. You know I'm usually good about taking care of myself. But the larger my farm gets, the more work I have to put into it. I'm sorry to cause you any trouble, though."

"You don't cause me any trouble. I just worry about you. You're a hard worker, but you have been known to work a little too hard," he said.

"How about this? I'll go to work, but I won't overdo it. And then when I'm done I'll go straight home and rest. Does that sound good?"

He nodded as he saw Martha come back. "That's good. I'm sure you'll feel wide awake tomorrow."

"Good morning, Raye," Martha said.

Raye turned around and smiled. "Oh hey Martha. How are you?"

"I'm good. Oh, were you just leaving?"

"As a matter of fact, I was," Raye said. "I'll see you two later, I guess. And I'll be sure to rest Alex."

"Bye," Martha said as Raye left the clinic. Alex sighed. "What's wrong with you Doctor?"

"She's overworking herself, it seems. She drank two stamina drinks today. And you know as well as I do that she shouldn't have. So I advised her to try to get some rest when she got home."

"You know what I think," Martha said.

Alex sighed. "No, I don't know. Do I really want to know?"

"I think that what that young lady needs is a good husband to watch over her. I also think that you need a fine young wife to help you learn to live a little. And what I really think is that what the two of you need happens to be each other."

Raye felt like she'd been sleeping forever. She'd done exactly what she'd told Alex she would do. She finished her work and went home. She was only on her bed for five seconds before she fell asleep.

The first thought that she had as she opened her eyes was about how cold it was. It was raining. . .And it was cold. She slept good when it was raining. It must've started after she went to sleep last night, she supposed.

Pulling the blanket over her head, she struggled to stay warm. What time was it, anyway? She figured she'd have to get up soon. Raising up the blanket enough to glance at the clock on the wall, she saw that it was indeed time for her to get up.

Turning her heater on, she saw the puppy and pig hurry over to sit in front of it. She had two heaters, but just that one should have been enough to warm things up. When winter came around, she'd end up using them both.

Since it was so cold this morning, she considered making Alex some hot herb tea. That's what she was getting ready to have. Going up to the kitchen, she made her tea and sat down at the table. She'd left the kitchen door open and Edward had climbed the stairs. He sat at her feet and wagged his tail.

"Hungry Ed?" she asked as she took another sip of tea.

The dog's reply was a bark. She laughed. Sitting her tea on the table, she went downstairs, Edward close behind her. Getting the bowls, it didn't take long for her to get the food for her pets.

"Oh, my tea," she said as she went back up the stairs, hoping that the tea she'd left on the table in the kitchen hadn't gotten cold. It had. Pouring it out, she went to make herself some more. When she'd finished that, she made Alex some, too. However, he wasn't at the clinic. Martha had said that her and Gina would be watching it today. Alex apparently had something to do.

Raye had a pretty good idea as to where he might be. She'd actually planned on going there today herself since it was a rainy day and she hadn't been in a while. She checked her rucksack to make sure that she'd brought her hoe and hammer and then set out for the cave that wasn't too far away.

She'd planned on going to take care of her animals first, but she didn't want Alex's tea to get cold. Unfortunately, the inside of that cake was just as cold if not more than it was outside. It didn't take her long to spot the doctor.

He was trying to dig up some pontata roots. He came here from time to time to do so. "Morning," Raye said as she tapped the doctor's shoulder. "Cold, isn't it?"

"Good morning," he said with a smile as he turned around. "It is cold today."

"That's why I brought you this," she said as she held out the tea to him.

"Oh, thank you," he said as he took it. "That was thoughtful."

Grabbing her hoe, Raye went to work on digging stuff up while Alex stood back and drank some tea. "So you were looking for these, right?" Raye said, holding out a pontata root to him.

"Yes," he said as he took it.

Raye dug up some clay. "Oh, Saibara will like this," she said as she put it in her rucksack. "On days like this, I like to go to the inn and have some stew. I think I'll do that later."

"I never get to go there," he told her.

"We both know you're not so horribly busy that you can't go somewhere every once in a while," she told him. "It's just that you don't want to go out alone, correct?"

"Uh. . ."

"Relax. You're not really a people person outside of the clinic, are you? But I can help you with that. Why don't you come with me to the inn? Do you like stew?"

"I-I like it, but. . ." he ventured.

"Has anyone ever told you that you should live a little?" she asked. "It's just some stew."

He groaned. Martha told him to get out more and live a little all the time. But for Raye to be telling him the same? "Okay, I'll go," he conceded.

'Wow,' she thought. 'He gave up without a fight.'

She shook her head. Why was she asking him to come with her like this? Maybe this cold weather was messing with her head. When had she gotten this bold? But she felt more and more comfortable around him these days. That nervousness she always felt when she was around him had turned into a certain familiarity.

For most of the first year they'd known each other, she hadn't actually interacted with him as much as she wanted to. Sure, they saw each other regularly and spoke a little, but they didn't say much when they did talk. She'd been too nervous and also too busy trying to start up her farm. But they seemed to see a whole lot more of each other these days. And the more she got to know him, the easier it was to be around him. But don't get it wrong, her stomach still churned at the mere sight of him.

"I guess I'll catch you at the clinic later. Right now I have to go down a few levels and get some gold."

"Okay," he said. "I guess I'll see you then."

She smiled. As soon as he disappeared from her sight, she felt her stomach begin to churn. Okay, so she was getting better at being around him, but he still unnerved her. But she was definitely looking forward to it. As long as she'd been in this village, she'd only seen Alex in a handful of relatively secluded places.

He needed to get out sometime. And why not get out with her? As she brushed the sheep, she was wondering that. Fuzzy seemed really happy. That was unusual since this one usually wasn't too happy when it rained. Becky, her other sheep, was next. She'd already milked her cows. They'd all given her special milk so she was very happy about that. It seemed as if hard work really did pay off.

"Are you almost done?" she heard a familiar voice say as she finished brushing Kai, one of her horses.

Turning around, she saw Alex standing outside of the door, holding his umbrella over his head. "What're you doing here?"

"I was in the neighborhood?" he joked.

She smiled and put the brush back into her rucksack. "Well I'm almost done here," she told him. "Will you wait?"

He nodded and she went to check to make sure that she'd left the animals enough food and went over to Fuzzy to make sure that she still wasn't spooked by the weather.

"Okay," she said finally as she grabbed the jacket she'd brought with her, partially to protect her from the rain and partially to protect her from the cold.

He watched her put the jacket back on and zip it up. He stepped back enough for her to leave the barn. He was wearing a jacket, too, she noticed as she stepped under the umbrella and walked next to him. 'Okay," she thought. 'Walking next to him like this, it's not that cold anymore. . .' She blushed at her own thoughts.

How come she was starting to feel a little nervous again? She thought that she was getting better about being around him. She'd even gone and invited him to come eat with her. She took a deep breath. When she let it out, she felt a little better. She supposed that being close to him was what had done it. Walking side by side still got to her.

"Are you okay?" he asked as he saw her let out her breath.

"I'm good," she nodded. "It's great that you came to meet me. But I have to wonder. . ."

"Yeah?"

"Were you just trying to avoid Martha's teasing?" The look on his face said it all. "She really gets to you, doesn't she?"

Normally Martha's nagging didn't get to him that much. But the moment he explained to her why he had to go out. . .He sighed, it had become unbearable. People just didn't know how Martha really was. He considered himself a calm man, but he could only stand so much. And yet he couldn't really picture a day at the clinic without Martha, either. . .

"You see that?" Raye said as she pointed to the land next to the inn. "Do you see those trees and stumps and rocks over there? Someday I'm going to buy that land, clear it out, and then I'm going to grown corn there in the summer. Right over there I can even put in a windmill."

"You really love what you do, don't you?" he asked as they continued on to the inn.

As she opened the door, she nodded. "Yes. But you do, too, even if it's hard work, right?"

He couldn't deny that. Even though being a doctor could be hard work sometimes, he never considered doing anything else.

"I thought I'd be seeing you today, Raye," Gwen said as she stood up from the table she was sitting at. "Oh, you have somebody with you. Hey Doctor."

"Hello," Alex said as Raye went to sit down at her usual table. He followed her. He would have gone and pulled her chair out for her like a gentleman, but she'd already sat down. He took the seat across from her and glanced around the inn.

"Finally, somewhere warm," Raye commented as she took her jacket off and let it drape over the chair behind her. Alex did the same.

"I know what you want," Doug said as he came down the stairs and saw Raye sitting there. "But what will it be for you Doctor? I'm surprised to see you here."

"Well Raye said I should try some of your stew. I hear that it's good," Alex said as Gwen stepped into the kitchen.

"Well at least it's been good ever since Gwen started helping here," Doug laughed. "I don't know how good it was when I was the one doing all the cooking.

Raye laughed. "Maybe I should try some of the stew that you make sometime, Doug," Raye said.

"You might not leave here alive then," Doug said lightly as Gwen left the kitchen with two bowls of stew. She sat one down in front of Raye and the other in front of Alex.

"Thank you," Alex said with a smile as Gwen sat the food down.

Had the doctor never really been here before? Raye, Gwen, and Doug watched patiently as the doctor brought the spoon up to his mouth and blew on it a little before he finally tried it.

"Wow," Alex said after he swallowed. "This really is good."

"Thank you," Gwen said happily.

"I know, right? Just what you need on a day like this."

Alex smiled and she smiled, too. This was twice now she'd been able to get him to eat out with her. Even if the first time he'd come was because someone was seriously ill. But she couldn't help but feel as if she was making progress with the doctor. And that alone was enough to make her smile even more.

oOOoOOoOOoOOo


	8. A Question on a Moonlit Night

Raye's Magical Melody

Chapter 8

A Question on a Moonlit Night

oOOoOOoOOoOOo

Hey everybody, I'm back with a new chapter! I'm still sick, but I'm getting better. I think I'm going to start typing on the last chapters of the story pretty soon. Thanks for reading and reviewing if you did, this always makes me happy. Here's the new chapter and I hope you like it.

oOOoOOoOOoOOo

"That was another date," Eve said as Raye a bite of the pizza she usually ordered when she went to the Moonlight Cafe.

"That wasn't a date. It was just. . .two friends having dinner. That's all."

"So what does this make it? The fourth date?" Eve said with a soft laugh.

"It wasn't a date. And if this is supposedly the fourth then when were the first three?" Raye asked as she sat the slice of pizza down and gave Eve a confused look.

Eve came out from behind the bar and sat down at the table with Raye. Leaning forward, she rested her chin in her hands and smiled. "He did ask you to go to the Starry Night Festival, didn't he?"

"Well. . .yeah," Raye said slowly.

"And while it's true that you can attend that festival alone, it's actually a festival that leans more towards couples. And since you two went together and he even walked you home, I'd say that was a date."

"One down, two to go," Raye said. "So when were these other "dates", Eve?"

"Well," Eve continued. "Do you remember the Fireworks Festival?"

"I was all around the beach talking to everybody that night. So how was that one a date?" Raye asked curiously.

"While it is true that you talked to everybody you came across that night, you ended up with Alex at the end. And what's more is the fact that you two watched the fireworks _together_. That means _you_ were standing next to _him_ when those fireworks went off."

Taking a bite of pizza, Raye thought that over and sighed. She had to admit that she did end up with Alex by the end of the night and they did watch the fireworks together. . .

"Do you remember running off to get the doctor to take care of Katie when she ate some of her cake?"

"Yeah, she was really sick. She almost scared me and Carl to death. She scared Alex, too, when he arrived."

"And what happened after the doctor gave Katie some medicine?"

Raye thought that over and finally responded. "I went to sit at the counter and then I convinced Alex to come have some tea with me."

"The two of you. . .together. . .in Cafe Callaway. . .drinking tea? That sounds like a date to me."

"And what planet are you from where that's considered a date?"

Eve laughed. "And then, you got to the incident that occurred just the other day. You invited him to go to Perch Inn with you to eat dinner. That was a date and you can't deny it."

"It was dinner," Raye said.

"Yes, it was dinner. A dinner date. You've already gone on four dates with this man and you didn't really even know you were doing it."

Raye thought it over and felt her face begin to go red. It got redder when Eve began to laugh. It was bad enough that being close to Alex was enough to completely unsettle her. But for Eve to point things out the way she always did? Ugh. . .

"How cute. Do you blush that way when you're around him?" Eve teased.

"N-No," Raye insisted. "I've gotten good these days about not getting so nervous around him. . .It's you I have to worry about now. . ."

Eve just laughed even more.

"Eve," Duke said. "You have work to do."

It was Raye's turn to laugh as Eve stood up and hurried back to help her uncle.

"Thanks," Raye said to Duke as Eve went back to mind her own business.

'Eve says that now,' Raye thought as she walked back to her house after finishing her food. 'But what if it was her and Dan? She has the biggest crush on him and she doesn't even really realize it.'

At first glace you wouldn't really think that those two would be suited for each other at all. But knowing the both of them, Raye realized that they were actually a pretty good match.

Looking up at the sky, she remembered that tomorrow night would be the Moon Festival. She didn't go last year, though. She'd caught a cold. And besides that, it really was a holiday for couples. Still, it must have been quite a sight.

Walking past the clinic on her way to her house, she saw that the lights were off. Alex must've already closed up for the night. 'W-What if he asks me to go to the Moon Festival with him?' she thought as reached her house and opened the door. 'No way. That's definitely a holiday for couples. And. . .'

Yet she couldn't deny the fact that she would definitely like it if Alex were to ask her. Turning on her television, she saw that it would be a nice day out tomorrow. That meant that tomorrow night would probably be nice as well. Turning of the TV, she hurried to get ready for bed. 'Me and Alex. . .gazing up at the moon?' That was the last thing she thought about before she drifted off to sleep.

What was the first thing that Raye thought about when she woke up the next morning? The fact that it was actually warm today. Getting up, she felt really good. She felt so good that it didn't take her long at all to get her pets their food and to get started on making some tea. As she sat the pot on the stove, she heard something downstairs.

"Coming," she called when she realized that there was somebody knocking on her door. Hurrying down the stairs, she stopped long enough to look in the nearby mirror to make sure that she looked okay and went to the door.

"Good morning," Alex said when they came face to face.

"Alex," she said. "Good morning. What brings you by?"

"Well. . ." he began.

"Hey, do you want to come in? I was about to have some tea. Do you want some? Or I have some veggie juice in the refrigerator if you'd like that."

She stepped back. Alex glanced around her home for the first time as he entered, closing the door behind himself. He'd never actually been inside her house before. It looked like she kept it clean and organized. He noticed that the book she'd checked out from the library was sitting on the table in front of her couch. Picking it up, he read a little of it before sitting it back down.

Raye had disappeared, probably up the stairs that he was guessing led to her kitchen. Hearing a noise, Alex looked down. Edward and Gutchan, he remembered their names were, were sitting at his feet. "Good morning," he said to them both. They seemed to get really excited. Maybe they liked him?

"Do you want to come up?" Raye said as she stuck her head out from the doorway at the top of the stairs.

Alex nodded and made short work of going up the stairs that lead to the second floor. The kitchen, he noticed, was just as clean and organized as the rest of the house.

"So what will it be?" Raye asked. "Would you like something to drink?" She went over to the refrigerator and pulled out a glass of veggie juice. "I know you love this. Do you want some?"

"Sure," he said before she took it out of the refrigerator and handed it to him.

Raye sighed inwardly. Alex was in her house? She'd never had him in there before. She felt a little unsettled like she usually did when he was around, but it wasn't an unpleasant feeling. Fixing herself a cup of tea, she sat down at the table. Alex did the same.

"You don't eat breakfast, do you?" Alex asked as he watched Raye sip on her tea. She shook her head.

"No, I don't. I can't really eat anything when I first wake up. If I do, I feel a little sick."

"But breakfast is the most important meal of the day," he told her as he drank some of his juice.

"Is that your opinion as my doctor?"

He smiled. "Yes, it is. But it's also my opinion as your. . ." he said before he trailed off. What in the world was the end of that sentence? Neither of them actually knew. What were they to each other?

'From what Eve said, it sounds like he could be my boyfriend. . .' Raye thought suddenly.

'But I haven't even asked her out, so I don't know where we stand. . .' Alex thought.

"Anyway, you didn't just come over here to have a drink with me in my kitchen, did you?" Raye asked as she broke the ice.

"No, actually," Alex said as he came out of his thoughts. "I came here to ask you something," he said as he finished his juice. Raye stood up and took both of their cups and took them to the sink. He watched her wash them out and lay them upside down on a cloth she had sitting on the counter.

He stood up and they were walking down the stairs as they continued. "A question?" Raye said as she picked up the book she'd gotten from the library and went to sit it on the bookshelf. "What is it?"

"Well I was wondering if maybe you'd like to go to the Moon Festival with me," Alex finally said.

Raye was so surprised that the book slipped out of her hand and fell to the floor in front of the bookshelf.

"Are you okay?" Alex asked as he hurried over. "Here, let me get that for you."

He bent down and picked up the book. "Thanks," she said as she took the book from him and sat it on the shelf. "Now what did you ask?"

"I wanted to know if you'd go to the Moon Festival with me," Alex said with a confused look on his face.

"Wow," Raye said, thinking back to her conversation with Eve the other night. "Of course I will!"

Why was that nervous feeling she'd always gotten when she was around him intensifying right now?

"Great! It's a date, then," he said as she walked him to the door. "So I'll see you later. We'll meet in the Square around eight, okay?"

"Okay," she said rather weakly, yet happily. "Bye."

'He called it a date!' she thought quickly, excitedly. 'Wow. . .'

For some reason, her work seemed to take longer than usual. It seemed to her like the day was never going to end. She supposed it was because he had actually called it a date this time. From what she'd heard, the Moon Festival was a very romantic holiday for couples.

She knew that the Starry Night Festival was really a holiday for couples itself, but that hadn't stopped her from wanting to go the year before, even if it meant going alone. But since it was a holiday for couples and she went with Alex this year, was that really a date for them, too?

Checking on her orchard, Raye saw that some of the apples had fallen off of the trees and were ready to be shipped off. Sticking a few in her rucksack, she figured that she could make use of those at home. The rest she took back to her barn since it was closer than her house so that she could ship them off.

Walking by the workshop, she thought that maybe she could upgrade her house soon and buy some new furniture. Maybe she'd be able to do that by the time that winter came around. But she did plan on going in there pretty soon so that she could buy some more land. She didn't plan on using it until around spring, but she wanted to buy it before then.

Besides, it had been a while since she'd been in to visit with Woody and his apprentices, Kurt and Joe. Joe was a lively guy who was very social. Kurt, however, was more withdrawn and quiet. For some reason, Kurt seemed to be the one who she got along with best.

She liked to bring him tomatoes in the summer. He really did love tomatoes, it seemed. Come to think it, though, she had to talk to Joe, too. She knew that Joe had a crush on Katie and she didn't know if he knew that she had gotten so sick recently.

Entering her house, Raye went straight up the stairs so that she could put the apples in the kitchen. 'I think that Carl might have a good recipe for apple pie. I'll stop by and ask him sometime soon.'

Glancing at the clock, Raye saw that it was finally almost time for her to head to the Square so that she could meet up with Alex. Going over to the mirror, she took a look to make sure that she looked okay. She didn't, in her opinion. So she took a little time to fix her hair before she hurried out the door.

"Look at that," Martha said as she watched Raye hurry to the Square through the window of the clinic. "She sure is anxious. You look pretty nervous yourself, Doctor. How cute. Here," she said while she picked up a hairbrush. "Let me brush your hair. You want to look nice, don't you? Now be sure to take a jacket. It might get cold tonight and I don't want you to cut your fun short because you get cold."

"Martha," Alex said in a tone that stated that he was not amused.

She laughed and waved her hand in dismissal. "Don't you think you should be going, too? You don't want to be late for another date."

"What? This would be the first, wouldn't it?"

"How about this? You go and enjoy yourself with that lovely young woman and when you come back, I'll explain to you why this is not your first date."

With a sigh, he grabbed a jacket and headed out the door. He was getting nervous, that was true. He'd been nervous when he'd knocked on her door that morning. He had been nervous when he'd stepped inside her house. And he was nervous now. But he hoped it wouldn't show, at least not to Raye.

Making his way to the Square, he saw Raye standing with her back turned to him. She was humming that same song she liked to hum when she was out working so hard everyday. With a smile he called out to her. "I'm sorry, did you wait long?" he asked as he hurried over to her and rubbed the back of his head like he usually did.

"Oh, no. I just got here myself," she told him as he came to a stop in front of her. "So are you ready? It looks like it's going to be great night out tonight. So tell me Alex, where are we going?"

"You'll see," he told her with a smile as he offered her his arm. She took it and they started their walk to the place he'd planned on taking her.

'I-I'm holding onto his arm!' she thought excitedly. 'And he's so close! Wow, this really is a date, isn't it?'

'Okay,' Alex thought was they walked down the road. 'I offered her my arm and she took it. And as a result, I'm even more nervous! But. . .having Raye hold onto my arm feels. . .right?'

They went on in silence for a little while, lost in their own thoughts which happened to be about each other. But pretty soon Raye decided to end the silence and say something. This was a date, right? Maybe if they talked a little then her nervousness would wane and she'd be able to really enjoy it.

"I plan on buying that land right there," she said while they were walking, trying to change her train of thought. "In spring, I'm going to grow a lot of strawberries over there. And then I'll give some of those strawberries to Meryl and Dia. They love strawberries and I think it's a good way of getting them to open up to me."

"You know, Dia does seem to be a lot happier when you visit her. Martha goes out to Hearty Lyla to buy her some strawberry jam from time to time. But she only really seems happy after you come around with a strawberry or two."

"Hmm. . .Maybe I'll make her some homemade jam sometime," Raye told him.

"That would be nice," he told her. "You're always thinking about others Raye. I really like that about you."

"Thanks," she said with a smile. Outside, she looked calm. Inside? She felt butterflies in her stomach. "So where are we going?" she asked again.

"We're almost there," he told her as they approached the lake. He stopped walking and she let go of his arm, laughing as she walked over to the water.

"So pretty," she said as she looked down at the reflection of the stars in the water. "Peaceful, isn't it?"

He nodded, suddenly unable to speak. He hadn't noticed he was staring at her, but when she turned her head to look at him, he realized it quickly enough and looked away.

"So is this where we were supposed to go?" she asked as she leaned forward and ran her hand through the water, watching the ripples form and vanish.

"No, actually," he told her as she stood up and came back to his side. "But it's not far now. Let's go."

Grabbing onto his arm again, she followed his lead. There was a path, she noticed, that he was leading her to. Strangely enough, she hadn't ever been down it before. Sure, she'd been to the lake for some fishing now and then and she'd discovered during last winter that the cave in the middle of the lake was a great place to mine. But she hadn't paid attention to that path before.

The path was dark yet devoid of trees. But she wasn't scared, actually. She'd be okay because Alex was there. The sign she'd glanced at when the first started down the path had said "Starry Hill". So was that where he was taking her?

"Wow," she breathed as the path came to an end at what she was guessing must be Starry Hill. "It's beautiful."

On either side of them there were trees, alive with the colors of the season. "You like looking at trees in fall, don't you?" Alex asked as he led her further down.

"I do, yes," she told him happily.

"Hey, close your eyes," he told her softly.

"Okay," she said with a shrug as she did as he asked, even holding her hand over her eyes for good measure. He led her forward until they came to a stop before she let go of his arm. Reaching out her other hand, she felt wood beneath it. Feeling the structure, it felt like a wooden balcony to her.

"You can open your eyes now," he told her as he tugged her hand down.

Opening her eyes slowly, she gasped. There was indeed a balcony. And this balcony stretched out above a seemingly never-ending mass of trees. They were all alive with the beauty of autumn. Their leaves were so many colors: red, orange, yellow, brown. . .They were all so beautiful.

And the way the moonlight was hitting them, they seemed to glow. Wait, the moonlight. Looking up at the sky, she saw the large, full moon in front of her. It was one of the most beautiful sights she'd ever seen. "Wow. . .Alex," she breathed as she looked over at him with an amazed look. "This is. . .wonderful!"

"I thought you'd like it," he said happily.

They stood there staring at the moon for a long time. Neither of them really knew how long they were there, how much time had passed. Glancing at Raye, Alex suddenly felt as if he could ask her something very important, something he'd been thinking about.

"Hey," he said as he placed a hand on her shoulder to get her attention.

"What's up?" she asked as she turned to face him. Zipping her jacket up a little further, she smiled. Both of them were getting a little cold out here, but neither of them really cared.

"You know, I was wondering something. I. . .I want to know if. . .Raye, would you be my girlfriend?"

She was shocked. Staring up at him, she wasn't sure if she'd heard him right. But his words were still ringing in her head. She'd heard him loud and clear. Alex really did just ask her to be his girlfriend! As she looked up at him, her heart began to beat incredibly fast. He was blushing a little and she was sure that she must be blushing, too. Raye suddenly nodded, giving Alex a brilliant smile while she did. "Yes," she told him happily as she placed a hand over her rapidly beating heart in case it tried to jump out of her chest. "Of course I will!"

oOOoOOoOOoOOo


	9. Goodbye Fall and Hello Winter

Raye's Magical Melody

Chapter 9

Goodbye Fall and Hello Winter

oOOoOOoOOoOOo

Chapter 9 is up and ready to read everybody. I hope you read this chapter and like it. I'm working on a new chapters right now so I'll let you read this chapter and I'll get back to work! Thanks for reading!

oOOoOOoOOoOOo

"Happy Birthday Carl!" Raye said as she came into Cafe Callaway with some fresh Special Milk she'd just gotten from her best cow.

"Wow, a birthday present for me? Yay! Thank you!" he said as he took it and scurried away to put it up. "I'll be able to make something great with this!"

Raye sat down on a stool next to Katie and waited for him to come back. "So how are you feeling Katie?" she asked her friend.

"What are you talking about? Oh. . ." Katie said. "I'm feeling great. That doctor of yours sure knows how to fix a person up, doesn't he?"

'Doctor of mine, huh? He's mine?' She almost blushed at those thoughts, but she felt Katie's eyes on her so she was able to hold it back.

"You gave us all quite a scare," Raye told her. "Carl and I didn't know what to do. If I hadn't gone and gotten Alex, we would have stood there panicking the entire time."

"I'm sorry for putting you guys through so much trouble," Katie said with a sigh. "I honestly didn't know that my cake was that bad. But having tasted it and getting as sick as I did. . .Maybe I'll just stop baking altogether."

"You can't say that," Raye said with determination. "Your cakes aren't bad. . .just. . .different. But I'm sure that if you ask Carl for help or Ellen then you will be a great baker in no time. If you work hard then by the time Thanksgiving comes around you'll have some really great cake to give away. So you work hard because I'll be coming by for a piece of your cake, okay?"

Katie smiled. "You're right, Raye. I'll try my best."

"So how much dessert will I be getting you today, Raye?" Carl asked as he strolled back into the room.

"Not too much," she told him. "Alex asked me to cut down on the amount of sweets I eat in just one trip here."

"I see," Carl told her. "But it won't hurt to have some cheesecake. It's your favorite, after all."

"You're right," she said as he sat some cheesecake down in front of her. "This can't hurt at all. By the way, Carl. I've been having a lot of apples fall off the trees in my orchard. And I think I want to use some to make an apple pie. So do you have a good recipe for apple pie? If you do then I'd like to try making it."

"You know I have a good recipe, but I don't normally give them to people. But for you, I'll make an exception!"

"Thank you, you're so sweet," Raye said before she took a bite of cheesecake.

Carl smiled and went to write the recipe down for her.

"Hello," Raye heard a familiar voice say. Turning her head, she smiled.

"Hey Ellen," Raye said as she watched Ellen take a seat on the other side of her.

"Can I get you something?" Katie asked as she stood up.

"Hmm. . ." Ellen said. "Yes, I think I'd like some apple pie. So tell me, where is Carl today?"

"Oh, he's here," Raye said as she watched Katie go to get Ellen some pie. "Actually, he's writing down his recipe for apple pie for me."

"Here," Katie said as she sat the piece of pie down in front of Ellen. "Um. . .Ellen?"

"Yes?" Ellen said as she picked up her fork and got ready to cut into the pie.

Katie looked at Raye who nodded as she ate some of her cheesecake. "I have a favor to ask. I need some help with something."

"If I can help then I'll be happy to," Ellen said.

"I know that I'm not that great at baking, but I want to get better. But I don't want Carl to teach me because I've caused him enough trouble already. So could you help me?"

"That sounds good," Ellen told her with a smile. "I'll do my best to teach you. And then you can come back here and show Carl what you've learned. I'm sure he'll be proud of you."

"Thank you," Katie said happily. "Also, can you please not tell Carl about this?"

"Not tell me about what?" Carl asked as he came back into the room and sat a piece of paper down in front of Raye. "There's the recipe. I hope your pie turns out great!"

"Oh, it's nothing. Just girl talk," Katie assured him.

Ellen merely nodded as she finally got to take a bite of her pie. Raye folded up the piece of paper and stuck it in her pocket. "Thanks again Carl," Raye said as she gave him a little hug. "You're my best guy friend."

"Awww, that's so nice!' Carl said. "I hope you haven't had too much sugar. . ."

"You silly," Raye said. "I haven't even finished my piece of cheesecake yet."

Ellen giggled. "This pie is really good, you know," Ellen said.

"Oh? Thank you, I'm glad you like it," Carl said as he directed his attention to Ellen.

"You should try some of my pie sometime since we both love to bake."

"Really? That sounds great," Carl told her happily.

"By the way," Katie said as she sat down next to Raye again. "Aren't the Fall Horse Races tomorrow?"

"Oh yes, they are," Raye told her.

"Are you ready?" Katie asked.

"I'm as ready as I'll get," Raye replied. "My horses are doing good and I think I'm well prepared."

"I'm sure you'll win," Carl assured her. "You're having a real hot streak, aren't you?"

"Don't let Jamie hear you say that," Ellen said. "He's not used to losing so often."

"And Gwen usually wins during this race, too, doesn't she?" Katie asked.

"She does. Gwen is really great with horses. I hope that she does win. I'm fine with not winning, but I would like to win at least one. I think that if any of my horses wins, then it'll definitely be Solomon. And since I only have three horses I'll only be able to participate in three of the four races, so that leaves one of them wide open."

"Well then I wish you good luck," Ellen said as she watched Raye finish off the rest of her cheesecake.

"Thanks," Raye said pleasantly. "I wish you and Katie good luck, too."

"Good luck with what?" Carl asked, confused.

"You'll see," Raye said as she stood up and went to the door. "Anyway, I have to go return the book I checked out from the library so I'll catch you later."

"Bye," they called out in unison before the door closed behind the young woman.

Raye ended up winning two and a half of the three races she participated in. Two of them she won with ease, leaving Jamie defeated. The third one, however, she'd managed to tie with Gwen. And the other race that she didn't participate in was won by Gwen. So in the end Jamie went home without winning at all.

Now, zipping up her jacket, Raye stepped outside. Breathing in the morning air of winter, she strode down the road with purpose. Having said goodbye to her friend Basil not too long ago, she hoped that he would enjoy himself wherever it was he went during winter.

She just hoped that Nina was okay with this. After all, the two of them were obviously a couple. How did Nina feel about not having Basil around for so long? 'If Alex was the one who had left, then I guess I'd be sad. . .' she thought to herself. Gazing at her snow covered fields, she realized that she actually missed the sight of the plants that used to grow there.

But spring would come around eventually and she'd have to start working hard again. A part of her was actually happy since she didn't have to work as hard as she usually did. She could finally relax a little bit. But not much since she planned on working hard in the Lake Cave, which she knew was full of precious gems such as diamonds and rubies.

Maybe she could even dig up some clay. That sure would make Saibara's day. Or some pontata roots, which would benefit Alex. Stopping in front of the Workshop, she opened the door and went inside.

"Good morning," she said as she entered the building.

"Ah, it's you Raye," Woody said from where he usually stood. "Hello."

"Good morning," Joe said cheerfully as he worked on a lovely little table.

"Kurt, your birthday is soon, isn't it?" Raye asked after she responded to the other two. "I'll be sure to bring you something, okay?"

"Thanks. . ." Kurt said with a slight blush as he turned away from her.

Raye smiled. Kurt wasn't a very social person. But that was part of his charm as far as she was concerned. She liked doing things to make him happy and seeing his reactions. He may been quieter than most, but he was actually a really good guy.

"Joe, have you done any good fishing lately?" Raye asked as she turned her attention to the other apprentice.

"Not lately. We've been so busy recently that I haven't had a chance to," he admitted.

"Oh dear," Raye said. "Maybe I should come back some other time. I don't want to add to the work you're already doing."

"Is there something you needed?" Woody asked as Raye stopped in front of him.

"Well I was hoping to upgrade my house. And the other day I ended up breaking my bed somehow. So I thought about getting a new one and I figured why not get a larger one while I was at it? But I don't want to bother you guys."

"You're not bothering us," Woody told her with a laugh. "It's our job, you know. So is that all for you?"

Raye thought about it and shook her head. "No, actually. I also want to by some more land."

Pulling out a map of the town, Woody spread it out in front of her. This is the available land, as you know. So what are you trying to buy?"

Raye pointed to what she wanted and Woody nodded. That piece of land wasn't too far from her house. It was just across the bridge that was nearby her home. That was where she planned on planting a lot of strawberries in the spring.

She paid Woody all of the money she needed to before she left. 'Maybe I'll go to the Lake Cave tomorrow,' she thought as she walked down the road and across the bridge, deciding to check up on her animals. 'Yeah, that sounds good.'

After she did that, she was on her way back home when she noticed Meryl. The girl was staring down at the snow with a blank look on her face.

"What are you doing?" Raye asked as she bent down to get a better look at the little girl.

"N-nothing," she told Raye.

"Well that's a shame," Raye told her. "Do you know what kids like you are supposed to do when there's snow outside?"

"What?" Meryl asked as she looked at Raye.

"You should make snowmen! Or you can make snow angels or even have a snowball fight. It's so much fun if you do that."

"I-I've never done t-that. . ." Meryl confessed.

"Then how about we do it right now?" Raye asked her as she made sure that the coat Meryl was wearing was buttoned up properly. "Should we make a snowman?"

"Okay," Meryl said with a nod.

Raye took some snow and packed it into a ball in her hand. Meryl watched as she sat it on the ground and began to roll it around, watching as the ball became bigger and bigger. "Wow," Meryl said.

"Do you like that? Why don't you help me make another one?"

Meryl nodded as she imitated Raye's actions before. Together, they rolled the ball through the snow until they thought it was a good enough size.

"Now how are we going to pick this up and put it on top of the first ball?" Raye asked with a thoughtful expression on her face.

"Do you need any help?" Alex asked as he deviated from the path he'd been taking.

"Oh, yes. Do you think you can help me lift this ball on top of the other?" she asked as Meryl went about making a third ball all by herself.

"Sure," he told her. "Making a snowman, are you?"

Meryl nodded but didn't stop what she was doing. "Y-Yes."

"Here," Raye said as she bent over and grabbed the large ball of snow. "You get the other side and we can lift it together."

"Okay," Alex said as he did what he was told. Working together, they lifted the ball and laid it on top of the first.

"Here," Meryl said as she finished the ball that would be used as the head.

"Thank you," Raye smiled at the girl before she and Alex lifted that one up, too. "So do you think you can go find a hat and a scarf for me?"

Meryl nodded and ran into Paradise Orchard and Alex ran off too, though she didn't know where. When he came back, he was holding two sticks.

"Here," he told her. "You can use these for the arms."

"Thank you," she told him. "That was a great idea."

Alex laughed and rubbed the back of his head. She smiled. She liked it when he did that.

"Cool, what are you doing?" Raye heard Tim say as he ran down the road.

"We're making a snowman," Alex replied as Meryl ran back outside and handed the hat and scarf to Raye.

"D-Do you want to. . .help?" Meryl asked Tim as she looked down at the ground.

"Bob and I used to make snowmen together. Sounds like fun! I can help?"

Meryl nodded.

"Since you're helping, do you have something we can use for the eyes and mouth?" Raye asked as she placed the hat on the snowman's head and wrapped the scarf around where it's neck should have been.

"Yes. I'll be right back," Tim said as he ran back in the direction of the cave he'd come from to begin with.

"It's still missing something. . ." Raye said as she looked at the snowman thoughtfully.

"It still needs a nose," Alex mentioned suddenly.

"Oh, you're right," Raye told him. "And we need some kind of buttons for the middle part. I have a carrot I was going to use to make you some veggie juice. That reminds me, I have to go shopping for some more. But what will I use for the buttons?"

"How about. . .s-strawberries?" Meryl suggested quietly.

The suggestion didn't really surprise Raye since she knew that the little girl loved strawberries. And she had to admit that it was actually a good idea. "That sounds good," she told Meryl. "I have some strawberries in my refrigerator, I think. I'll tell you what, I'll bring three to put on the snowman and one just for you. Does that sound good?"

Meryl's face brightened up. "Yes!" she exclaimed.

"Good. I'll be right back," Raye said as she hurried in the direction of her house. It felt so warm in her house when she got inside. She had both heaters going now and they made her house feel warm and comfortable.

She went straight up the stairs and grabbed the carrot and the strawberries. As she left, she noticed Woody, Kurt, and Joe walking around her house, talking about something. They were probably making preparations to upgrade her house.

"There," Alex said as he put the finishing touches on the snowman's mouth. "Now it has a face. Well, almost."

"That's really nice," Raye commented as she took a look at the gold ore that Tim had brought to be used as eyes and mouth of the snowman. Sticking the carrot on the snowman, it finally had a nose. "And now I'll put these strawberries on, too. One, two. . .three," she said as she put the strawberries on the snowman. "And I saved the best one for last."

Holding out the nicest looking strawberry, she watched Meryl happily take it and smiled. She really liked children. Meryl and Tim were really great kids.

"So is it finished now?" Tim asked as he looked up at the snowman.

"I think it is. It looks great. Now wasn't that fun Meryl?"

The little girl nodded as she nibbled on the strawberry. It seemed that Meryl was coming out of her shell a little bit more and for that Raye was very, very happy.

oOOoOOoOOoOOo


	10. Raye's Winter Fun and Thanksgiving Day

Raye's Magical Melody

Chapter 10

Raye's Winter Fun and Thanksgiving Day

oOOoOOoOOoOOo

Hello, I'm back! Sorry I haven't been updating much! But I've been experiencing a little writer's block. However, I'm almost done with this story so I'll work hard to get past the writer's block and finish it up! Today happens to be Christmas Eve, so I want to say Happy Holidays to everybody reading this! I guess my Christmas gift to you will be a new chapter. Ah, be sure to keep an eye out for the next two chapters! I really enjoyed writing them! So anyway, here's the new chapter and I hope you like it.

oOOoOOoOOoOOo

"Hey Tim," Raye said as she bent down in front of the boy. "Do you know how to make snow angels?"

"Yeah!" Tim said with a smile on his face.

"That's good because I know a little girl who doesn't," she said, looking over at Meryl. "So do you think you can teach her how?"

Tim nodded and ran in Meryl's direction. Raye and Alex watched as the two children laid down in the snow and moved their arms and legs back and forth. When they stood up, Meryl had an amazed look on her face. "Wow," she whispered as she looked down at the angel she'd left behind in the snow. She giggled before she laid down to make another.

"You're good with children," Alex commented with a smile.

"Well so are you," she told him.

"I think that maybe they should go inside soon," he said. "It's cold out here and I don't want them to get sick."

"Oh lighten up," she said. "They're kids. Tim stays in that cave all day and Meryl rarely interacts with people, yet here they both are."

To emphasize her point of "lightening up" she picked up some snow, packed it up, and threw it at Alex. He stared down at the remnants of the snowball that was now on this chest. "Okay, you asked for it," he told her as he grabbed some snow and made a ball before he threw it at her. He missed.

"You'll have to do better than that," she laughed as she dodged the next one and made another snowball before throwing it at Alex. He actually managed to dodge this time and countered with an unexpected snowball which hit her in the arm.

"Take that," he told her, proud of himself for hitting her. He was interrupted, however, when a snowball hit him in the face.

"No, you take that," she corrected with a laugh as she ran away from him as he formed what seemed to be a huge snowball and threw it at her. Either she wasn't fast enough or else that thing was just so big that there wasn't any dodging it. It hit her in the back. In fact, it was so big that it knocked her over.

"Raye!" Alex called as he ran to her side. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you fall. Let me help you up before you catch a cold."

She laughed as he helped her up. Raye grabbed some snow and threw it up in the air, watching as it fell down around them. "Now wasn't that fun?"

As the last of the snow she threw fell to the ground, she was surprised to see some more join it. As she looked up, she saw that it had actually started to snow. Raye and Alex stood there and watched the pure white snow fall down from the sky, blanketing the ground a bit more.

Raye felt a tug on her sleeve and looked down. Meryl was looking up at her eating a strawberry she'd taken from the snowman.

"Do you want to play, too?" Raye asked her. The little girl nodded.

Picking up some more snow, Raye formed it into a snowball and handed it to Meryl. The little girl smiled before she threw it at Tim, who'd had his back turned.

"Hey!" Tim said as he made his own snowball. Meryl jumped out of the way and Tim tried again. Raye and Alex laughed, watching the children throwing snowballs at each other. Meryl was winning. She was really fast, it seemed.

"They'll make great parents someday," Martha commented as she secretly watched. She was more sure now than ever that Alex and Raye were right for each other. Alex was more lively with Raye than she'd ever seen the man. The young woman was definitely having a good influence on him.

A couple of days later, Raye didn't have much time to have fun. Ending up at the lake, she breathed in a big breath of the winter air and smiled. One of the best things about winter was that the lake froze over. Ordinarily this wouldn't mean much of anything, but the fact that there was a cave in the middle of the lake full of precious gems certainly helped.

There didn't seem to be anybody around at the lake today. Maybe they were inside of their homes trying to keep warm. But not her. She was going to get some gems and ship those babies off for some money. Stepping onto the ice, she took her time. Carefully walking across it, she hoped that she wouldn't fall or anything.

It didn't take too long for her to reach her destination and she breathed a sigh of relief when her feet touched land. Stepping into the lake cave, she took her time to look around before she descended to a lower level. Grabbing her hammer, she went to work. Walking over to what looked like a crystal of sorts, she raised her hammer above her head before she smashed it over the crystal.

What remained was a beautiful piece of rare ore. The second thing she ended up with when she smashed another was some amethyst. Picking up the purple gem, she put it away and went to smash a rock this time. When she was done on that floor, she went to another one.

"Ugh," Raye said as she smashed a crystal. A gas came out of it the moment she smashed it and it paralyzed her. Eventually the affects of the gas wore of an she was able to move again, though this time she prepared herself for whatever might happen.

"Here we go," she mumbled as she picked up the remnants of a crystal she hit with her hammer.

It was a piece of topaz. She knew that this would fetch a nice price. Going back to work she unearthed some more gems. She didn't get to go mine much throughout the year because she was always so busy with her crops. So when winter came around she was glad because she would now have the free time to be able to do that.

It was so quiet in here. That was one of the drawbacks of being in a cave. In here there wasn't much of anything to hear. It kind of made her miss being outside in her fields, hearing the sounds of nature. And it was dark in here, too. She supposed that she was just more of an outdoors type of person and not a cave dweller such as Tai or Tim. But that didn't mean that she didn't like to do it from time to time.

Moving down another level, she was hoping to get down far enough to find some rubies. She always got a lot for shipping those. Raye didn't find any rubies, but she did find some nice aquamarine. She loved the shade of blue that those stones were. They were so pretty to her.

As she put one more gemstone into her rucksack, she discovered that it was almost full. In fact, it would be completely full by the time she put her hammer back inside. As she put the hammer up and grabbed the rucksack, she realized that it'd probably gotten a little late. So she hurried back up to the surface and saw how dark it had gotten.

Shivering, she carefully made her way back across the ice and stopped once she reached the land. Looking up at the night sky, it was so clear. Yet it was so cold that she didn't really feel like stargazing tonight. Hurrying away from the lake, she made her way back through town.

"Cold, so cold," Raye commented as she continued on her way to her house. Rubbing her arms with her hands, she was shocked when somebody put their hand on her shoulder. "Ah!'

"Whoa, it's just me," a familiar voice said.

"Oh, it's you Eve," Raye said as Eve giggled at her surprise. "What are you doing out here in the cold?"

"I had a break. So I wanted to get some fresh air. "Speaking of cold, you sure look it."

Raye nodded as she wrapped her arms around herself tightly. "I am. I've been working in the lake cave all day. I was just heading home."

"Why don't you come with me? You can have something hot to eat and warm up before you head home. You are hungry, aren't you?"

Raye's stomach answered Eve's question for her when it growled. Raye blushed. "Well I guess I am. Okay, I'll go."

"Good," Eve said as they began the walk to Moonlight Cafe. "So did you get anything nice?"

Raye nodded. "Yeah, I got a lot of gems. I still have to ship them off before I can get to bed. Or I could just wait until the morning."

"I see that you upgraded your house."

"Yes. I upgraded it again. I even got a larger bed. I get such great sleep now. I want to go get a new refrigerator soon, too."

"That's great," Eve told her. "So what'll you be having to eat tonight?"

"Do you even have to ask?" Raye said.

"You have a point there," Eve laughed. "You really like pizza, don't you?"

"Yep," Raye said as she followed Eve into Moonlight Cafe.

Going to sit down at her usual table, she gave Eve some money and watched her go to get the pizza for her. It sure was lively in here tonight. There was so much noise. Raye liked to just sit there and listen to others talk sometimes. Leaning forward, she brought her arm up and laid her head against her hand.

Her thoughts wandered to Alex. She wondered what he was doing that very moment. He was probably still working at the clinic. She picture him mixing up some medicine or looking for an important paper he'd somehow managed to misplace.

She remembered the other day when they played in the snow with the children. They'd all had a great time. Alex handled the kids well and he seemed to enjoy being around them. She thought back to their snowball fight and she almost laughed thinking about it. They'd both had fun.

"Thinking about the doctor again?" Eve asked with a giggle as she sat the pizza down in front of Raye and took a seat.

Raye blushed. "How did you know that?" she asked as she yanked the pizza off the plate and brought it to her mouth.

"Because," Eve told her as she sat back. "You always look so happy when you're thinking about him. It's look of happiness you only get when you are thinking about him."

"Really?" Raye asked as the blush didn't fade. She took a bite of the pizza and chewed it thoughtfully. "Then I suppose I could say the same about you when you're thinking about Dan."

"W-What?" Eve said. It was her turn to blush.

Satisfied that she'd succeeded at ruffling Eve's feathers, Raye finished her meal.

About a week passed. Raye woke up and yawned. Glancing at the clock, she groaned. She wanted to pull the covers over her head and go back to sleep. But she had to get up early. It was Thanksgiving, one of her favorite holidays. And she was going to get up early to bake some cake.

She was only baking for a few people, too. The good thing about Thanksgiving was that people would give you cake and you could give that cake to somebody else and then get cake from them, and so on. So she wouldn't have to be doing a lot of baking.

Getting up, she got dressed and looked over at Edward and Gutchan. They were both still asleep. Grabbing their bowls, she went to get them both more food and water before she got started on that cake. As she was making the cake, she thought about Katie.

Katie was supposed to have been taking lessons from Ellen. Katie was having Ellen teach her how to bake and Katie planned on presenting Carl with the result of her hard work on Thanksgiving. She couldn't wait to go to the coffee shop and see if Katie was able to sink or swim.

Putting the cake in the oven, she set the timer and went to make herself something hot to drink. But she wasn't sure what she wanted. Leaning against the counter with her hand against her head, she thought about what she should drink. In the end, hot cocoa won and she hurried to make herself some.

Sitting down at the table, she sipped on her cocoa and stared at the oven. The cake seemed to be coming along nicely. Smiling, she wondered it Alex was up right now making cake for her, too. She sat there for a while lost in her thoughts until she heard the timer go off. Pouring out the rest of her hot cocoa, Raye went to take care of the cake.

Before too long, she was walking out her door and breathing in the morning air. She was in a great mood as she made the short walk from her house to the clinic. Opening the door, she strolled inside and smiled brightly at Alex who had been sitting at his desk looking at something in a book.

She stood there quietly and watched him as he turned the page. The doctor finally looked over and jumped up. "Raye, I'm sorry I didn't hear you come in. Have you been standing there long?"

She shook her head. "No, I just got here a minute ago, so it's okay. Happy Thanksgiving, Doctor."

"Happy Thanksgiving," he said happily.

"Here," she told him as she held out a piece of cake. "I brought you this. I hope you like it!"

"Thank you," he told her as he took the cake and smiled. "The one you made last year was great. I'm sure this one will be, too."

That feeling of having butterflies in her stomach suddenly returned, the feeling she'd gotten a lot back when she first met Alex.

"Hey, wait here for a minute," he told her as he left the room. When he came back, he was holding a different piece of cake. "This is for you."

"Yay, thank you!" Raye said as she took his cake and put it away. "Did you make this for me?"

He nodded and rubbed the back of his head. She smiled. And before she could think about it, before she could stop herself, she leaned in and kissed his cheek. Alex blinked a couple of times before he blushed.

Raye's heart was hammering against her chest. While it was true that they were going out, she'd never kissed him on the cheek before. But she just felt so warm and happy today that she couldn't help herself. Alex laughed nervously and smiled.

As red as he was, Raye was sure that she was just as red. But before either of them could say anything, Martha entered the clinic. "Raye! I was just at your house, but I should have known you'd be here. Happy Thanksgiving!"

"H-Happy Thanksgiving," Raye said with a smile.

"Oh my, both of you are red. Are you coming down with something? Or maybe something happened while I was out?"

"Here, have some cake Martha," Raye said, distracting Martha as she handed her a piece of cake.

"Oh, thank you. You're so thoughtful." Martha said as she pulled out a piece of her own. "Here, this is for you!"

"Thanks," Raye said as she put that cake away, too. "Anyway, I have to get going now. I hope that you guys like your cake."

Raye hurried out of the clinic and considered burying her head in some snow. Maybe then her face wouldn't feel so hot! Calming herself down, she considered where her next destination would be. She ran into a few people after she left the clinic. Eve was the first person she'd encountered.

Apparently Raye must have still been blushing a little because Eve asked her why her face was red. Now, Raye was on her way to Cafe Callaway. Surely they were open by now. She was right. Going inside, she saw Carl standing there with a very surprised look on his face.

"Well?" Katie asked nervously as she glanced at Carl and then at Ellen.

"You. . .You did a great job!" Carl said sweetly as he smiled at Katie. "Your cake is delicious."

"Yay!" Katie said happily as she jumped up. "Thank you for helping me so much, Ellen. And thanks for eating my cake, Carl."

"You're welcome," they said at the same time before glancing at each other. Ellen smiled at Carl and he smiled back. Raye could have been wrong, but it looked to her like there was something there between Carl and Ellen.

"Happy Thanksgiving," Raye said finally.

All eyes in the room focused on her. "Happy Thanksgiving," they all said at the same time.

"I can finally bake!" Katie said excitedly as she stood next to Raye. "Thanks to Ellen, of course."

"I know, I saw Carl eat your cake," Raye told her. "Good job, I knew you could do it."

"Let me guess, you came for cake, didn't you?" Carl asked.

Raye laughed. "How did you know that?"

"Lucky guess," Carl said happily. "Here, I made this just for you!"

"Oh, you're so sweet!" Raye said as she took his cake and pulled out a piece she'd made. "I made some for you, too."

"You did? Thank you," Carl said as he took the cake from her and smiled.

"Here, you have to try this!" Katie said as she sat a piece of the cake she made down in front of Raye, who had sat down.

"Okay, I finally get to try some of your cake, Katie," Raye said as she grabbed the fork and got some of the cake. Bringing the fork to her mouth, she the cake in her mouth and chewed it. It was good, very good. It wasn't as good as Carl's cake usually was, but it was very good. "This is great!"

"Really?!" Katie said happily. Raye nodded.

Raye finished the cake Katie had given her before she put the piece Carl gave her away for later. Pulling out a piece of cake, she gave it to Katie. Reaching inside, she got another piece.

"This one's for you, Ellen," Raye told her as she handed her the cake.

"Thank you!" Ellen said as she accepted the cake. "And I brought some for you, too, of course!"

"Yay!" Raye said as she took the cake. "Your cakes are always so good, Ellen."

Ellen smiled. "Thanks Raye, but they're not as good as Carl's, though."

"Don't say that," Carl said with a smile. "You're wonderful at baking, Ellen."

Raye smiled as she saw the two smile at each other in the silence. Yep, there was definitely something between those two, and that made her very happy.

oOOoOOoOOoOOo


	11. The Start of Something New

Raye's Magical Melody

Chapter 11

The Start of Something New

oOOoOOoOOoOOo

Happy New Year everybody! This is my first update of the new year and I'm really happy about this one! Finally! I finally get to put this chapter up! I had a great time writing this one and the one after this! By the time you're done reading this chapter, I hope you'll be so happy about it that you'll be hurrying to write a review! Anyway, here it is! Enjoy!

oOOoOOoOOoOOo

Raye was laying in her bed and staring up at the ceiling. She'd gotten up earlier and taken care of a few things only to lay back down on her bed. She'd had a dream about the Fire Festival. She smiled. Mayor Theodore had trusted her and Alex to watch the flame. She'd spent the night sitting on the beach with Alex, next to the heat of the flame.

But the flame wasn't what kept her so warm all night. The warmth flowed into her through the look in Alex's eyes. They gazed at each other for the longest time. Mayor Theodore must've been standing there trying to get their attention for a few minutes when he came back, but it took them a while to even notice that he was there.

It was really late when Alex walked her home, but she didn't care. It could have been four in the morning and it wouldn't have mattered as long as she was there with him. But the dream only got better from there. The next part of the dream was about the Starry Night festival. That night had reminded her of the Moon Festival, only without the moon.

It had been so beautiful. It had been so cold, and yet she couldn't care less. They'd spent the night up on Starry Hill and enjoyed themselves. But even right now, she was getting more excited. If it was this good between them right now, then it could only get better. And that was something she that was looking forward to.

Getting back up, Raye put her shoes on and grabbed her rucksack. Eve's birthday had come and passed. Raye had given her a present and Eve had been so happy. It was the least she could do to repay Eve for the lovely gift she'd given her for her birthday.

But today it was Martha's birthday. So Raye planned on giving her a present. Martha had always been so nice to her, as if she were her grandmother. Closing the door behind her, she walked over to the clinic and went inside.

"Good morning Raye," Martha said when she saw her.

"Good morning. Happy Birthday, Martha," Raye said cheerfully.

"You remembered?" Martha said happily.

Sitting her rucksack down on Alex's desk, Raye opened it up and rummaged through it. Finally finding what she was looking for, she pulled out some of the best yarn her sheep had ever given her.

"This is for you!" Raye said as she handed Martha the yarn.

Martha took the yarn and looked at it with a pleasantly surprised expression. "This is beautiful Raye," Martha told her. "Thank you, I'm sure I'll be able to make something very nice with this!"

"You're welcome," Raye said with a smile.

"I thought I heard your voice," Alex said as he came out from a nearby room. Martha noticed the way Alex's face lit up and the way Raye smiled at him. It wouldn't be long now, would it? Pretty soon, the two of them would realize what she already knew, exactly how they felt about each other.

But she couldn't just stand by and wait, could she? No, she had to do something to help it along, and discreetly of course.

"I brought you some herb tea today," she told him as she pulled the tea out and handed it to him. "I thought it would warm you up."

"I warmed up the moment I saw you," he told her. He must not have meant to say that out loud because he blushed. Raye smiled even brighter.

"Hey Raye, could you come outside with me for a moment? I want to talk about this yarn for a minute."

"Okay," Raye told her.

"Doctor," Gina said from the back of the clinic. "I need you to come look over these papers here."

"Sure, I'll be right there."

"I'll see you soon Alex," Raye called out.

"Bye Raye," he said with a wave and a warm smile.

Raye followed Martha outside. Martha had a big smile on her face.

"So what did you want to say about the yarn?" Raye asked as she leaned against the wall of the clinic. Martha had never asked her to come outside with her before so she had a strange suspicion that this wasn't just about the yarn.

"Nothing at all," Martha told her with a suspicious smile. "I came out here to talk about you and Alex, actually."

"Me and Alex?" Raye asked, confused.

"Yes. I think that you should ask him out to watch the New Year's sunrise with you," Martha said merrily.

"Me ask him?" Raye said with a blush.

"Yes, yes," Martha told her. "You two should go out and bring in the new year together. It's a great idea. I think that you two will have a wonderful time."

"You know, that is a good idea," Raye finally said. "You're right Martha, I should ask him. Do you think he'll say yes?"

"Of course he will!" Martha said. "Don't worry about it, dear. Just ask him and have yourself a good time."

"Thank you," Raye said. "Enjoy your birthday Martha!"

"You're welcome and I'll try," Martha replied.

She watched Raye leave and smiled brightly. Hopefully something good would come from her "meddling" as Alex would put it. And yet she had the strangest feeling that something good was going to happen and she couldn't wait.

Days later Raye felt very nervous as she stood outside of the clinic. She was going to take Martha's advice, but she was definitely nervous. Yesterday she'd thought it over long and hard while she was doing some fishing. Raye really did want to ask Alex to see the sunrise with her, but she couldn't squelch the anxiety she was feeling. She glanced down at the Grilled Snapper she'd brought for Alex.

The clinic was closed for holidays, but she knew that it was always open for her. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door and stepped inside.

"Raye," Alex said happily as he turned to see her. "Good morning."

"Good morning Doctor," Raye said as she struggled to remain calm. "I brought you some Grilled Snapper today."

"Thank you," he said as he took the plate from her. "Raye, are you okay? You look a little jittery."

"I'm okay," she told him. "Actually, I wanted to ask you something. If you don't have any plans for later, I was hoping that we could watch the New Year's sunrise together."

"Oh. . .You want to watch the sunrise with me?"

"Well if you don't want to, then. . ."

"No, I do!" he told her. "It sounds good to me. Thank you for asking."

"So it's a date then?" she asked with a smile of relief. "So when can we meet up?"

"Hmm. . .How about I meet you at the usual place at ten?"

"Ten?"

"Yes. How does that sound?"

"It sounds good. Ten it is," she told him. "I guess I'll see you then. Bye Alex."

"Bye," he told her as he watched her disappear out the door. "S-She just asked me out?!"

"She really did it, huh?" Martha said as she came into the room.

"You were listening?" Alex asked as he redirected his attention to the food Raye had brought him.

"Of course I was. So you two are meeting up at ten?"

"Do you think that you and Gina could do me a couple of favors?"

"We certainly can," Martha said happily. "So what do you have in mind?"

Hours later, Raye stood in the square and wondered what was keeping Alex. He was a little later than usual, wasn't he? She was starting to feel as nervous now as she had the first time she'd stood here waiting on him. It seemed as if it had been forever since that day he'd asked her to attend the Star Festival with him.

She smiled fondly at the memories that ran through her mind. She was so distracted that she didn't notice when Alex finally showed up. He stood there watching the happy expression on her face and smiled, too.

"Raye?"

"Oh, you made it! Raye said when she heard his voice. "What kept you Doctor?"

"Well. . .This and that. But I'm here now so are you ready?"

"Of course I am," she said as she took his arm and let him lead her away. "So where are we going?"

"We have some time to kill," Alex told her. "Is there anything in particular you want to do?"

"Hmm. . ." Raye said as she thought it over. "How about we go to the beach!"

He smiled as he remembered the Fire Festival. They'd sat there on the beach the entire night. He hadn't felt cold at all, either. And neither of them had ended up getting sick. They'd just sat there gazing at each other and it was then that Alex had first realized a strange feeling deep inside him. It was something he'd known had been there, but hadn't yet acknowledged.

They reached the beach and Raye let go of his arm, walking to the edge of the water and watching the waves roll in. She jumped back when she almost got wet, not wanting to feel just how cold the water really was. Grabbing a stick, she began drawing something in the sand. Alex couldn't see what she was drawing from where he stood.

Finally, she motioned for him to come over and pointed down at the sand proudly. "Tada!" she said happily.

"What is it?" he asked as he came over. But as soon as he saw it, he laughed. She'd drawn a picture of Jamie. It was exactly how he'd looked when Raye had beaten him at the Chicken Festival. Then again, it was how he looked every time Raye beat him.

"So do you like it?" she asked as he wiped away the laughter induced tears.

"It's a masterpiece," he assured her.

She smiled and watched peacefully as the waves washed the picture away. Grabbing his arm, she lead him over to the dock. They sat down next to each other. Raye laid her head on his arm and sighed. She was enjoying herself.

"Alex?" she asked, breaking the silence that had fallen between them.

"Yes?"

"You told me once that you were from this village, but then again you'd also told me that you were new here."

"Oh, that?" he asked as he looked out at the water. "I'm originally from this village. I was born here, but I moved away when I was a kid. After I became a doctor, I moved back. I'd only been here for a couple of years before you got here, so I was still pretty new to the town."

"Really? What made you move back?"

"Well I always wanted to return to this village someday. But I almost didn't come back. I got an offer to move to a larger village and work at a very successful clinic there."

"And you turned the offer down?" Raye asked. "You don't regret it?"

Alex shook his head. "No, I don't regret it. I really love this village. That other clinic had plenty of doctors in it and this village didn't have any. The people had been having to travel to neighboring villages just to get treatment. Imagine how busy I was when I first came to town since everybody needed help with something."

"Wow, you've been a big help to the village, haven't you? I bet everybody's very happy you came back."

"You know," he said as he looked over at her. "I'm very happy I came back, too. After all, if I hadn't returned then I. . .I never would have met you, Raye."

She gasped at his softly uttered words and blushed. "I'm happy we both came here," she told him just as softly.

They sat there like that for a very long time, completely comfortable and content. Spotting Martha out of the corner of his eye, Alex hated to have to end the moment when he stood up. "Are you ready to go?" he asked her as he reached out his hand.

"Go where?" she asked as she let him help her up.

"That's the thing," Alex said as he came to a stop and pulled a blindfold out of his pocket. "I have a surprise for you, but you have to put this blindfold on first."

"A surprise, huh?" she giggled. "Okay."

She turned around and let him put the blindfold on. She couldn't see a thing at all. 'I guess that's the point of wearing it,' she thought.

"I hope I don't trip or fall," she commented when he finished with the blindfold.

"That won't happen," he said as took her hand in his. "Trust me, I won't let it."

She smiled as he lead her away, holding her hand in his. Raye had no idea where they were going. All she knew was that Alex was taking her there. It was funny how she could hear things much better now that she couldn't see anything. The sound of their footsteps or the sound of an animal of the night. The sound of the wind as it rustled the leaves of the trees. She could hear it all.

Raye could even hear the beating of her own heart. For some reason, she felt very excited. What could Alex be planning? They walked and walked and she had no idea where they had walked to, but he finally came to a stop.

"We're here," he told her. "Are you ready?"

She nodded before Alex slowly untied the blindfold. When he finally pulled the blindfold off, she gasped. They were on Starry Hill. On the ground, there was a lovely blanket surrounded by flowers, so many Blue Mist flowers that smelled so beautiful. And carefully placed around the blanket with the flowers, far enough away that they wouldn't burn them were some candles. They illuminated the blanket and the flowers with a soft, lovely light.

And sitting in the middle of the blanket there was a basket. Raye was speechless. Alex had prepared the most beautiful picnic she had ever seen. He led her over to the blanket where she sat down across from him.

"Do you like it?" he asked her as he opened the basket.

"I-I-It's wonderful!" she told him as she gazed at the flowers and the way the light of the candles hit them. "Who knew you were so romantic! Did you do all of this by yourself?"

He shook his head as he reached into the basket. "No, I had some help from Martha and Gina. While we were on the beach, they helped to put all of this together."

"Wow," she spoke softly. "So what's in the basket?"

He smiled. "You're favorite, of course."

Alex pulled out a plate of what was indeed her favorite. "Cheesecake!" she exclaimed as she took the plate and picked up the fork.

They sat there together and ate the cheesecake. Alex surprised Raye further when he pulled out some hot cocoa as well. He was just full of surprises tonight, wasn't he? She was the one who had asked him out, yet he was the one making the date wonderful.

Finishing the last of her hot cocoa, Raye looked up at the sky. It was getting brighter. The first sunrise of the new year was fast approaching. Sitting her cup down, she grabbed one of the flowers and brought it up to her nose.

"Are you cold?" Alex asked her.

"Hmm. . .Not really, just my ears. Wait, I have an idea," she said as she sat the flower down. Alex watched her as she reached up and pulled her pigtails loose, letting her hair down. He'd never seen her with her hair down before and it shocked him. As pretty as she was with her hair up, she was even more beautiful with it down.

"There, I'm done," Raye said as she ran her fingers through her hair. "That should keep my ears warm."

"Hmm. . .not quite yet," Alex said as he pushed some of her hair back behind her ear and tucked a flower behind it, too. "There, now you're done."

"Thanks! It's so pretty. I guess one ear will be pretty and cold and the other will be warm," she said with a laugh.

Raye looked over and saw as the sun began to rise. It was bright and beautiful, reaching out across the land and making it glow.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Raye whispered as she watched the sunrise. "Don't you just love sunrises?"

Alex shook his head. "I love sunrises, but there is something that I love much, much more," he said as he followed her gaze and saw the sunrise himself.

"Oh?" she said as she turned to look at him. "What do you love then?"

He smiled a little bashfully as he looked at her. "I. . .I love you," he admitted softly as her eyes widened.

Did she just hear him correctly? Did Alex just say that he loved her? As in he was in love with her?! Her heart was beating so fast that she was afraid it was going to jump out of her chest. And before she knew it, before she could even respond to his words, he leaned in close, his lips hovering above hers for a second before they met each other in a kiss.

Raye wrapped her arms around his neck as he pulled her closer. His lips were soft, his embrace was warm, and his mouth tasted like the lingering sweetness of the cocoa. As the sun's light flooded over them, more had started than just the new year. No, something new started between them. Something beautiful and wonderful at the same time.

When they broke the kiss, Raye could only say one thing and one thing only. "Alex. . ." she whispered as he pulled her close. "I love you, too!"

oOOoOOoOOoOOo


	12. Climbing Mountains and Getting Married

Raye's Magical Melody

Chapter 12

Mountain Climbing and Getting Married

oOOoOOoOOoOOo

Hi! I've finally brought you a new chapter. I'm sorry it took so long for me to put it up, but at least it's here now. I really loved writing this chapter. So I hope that you love reading it as much as I loved writing it. Thanks for all the reviews! I got so many for the last chapter and I was so happy! And as always, thank you so much for reading. I've been a little busy lately so I haven't been able to sit down and read this chapter through yet so if there are some mistakes I didn't catch when I did the spell check, I'll correct them as soon as I can. Oh, and I've finally finished writing the last chapter so you'll be reading that one soon enough. But for now, here's chapter twelve. I hope you enjoy it.

oOOoOOoOOoOOo

Raye sat at the table in her kitchen sipping on some herb tea. She glanced over at the new refrigerator she'd gotten yesterday. Raye was a little hungry, but she rarely ever ate breakfast so she didn't worry about it. She was almost done with the tea before she heard a knock on her door. Pushing the cup aside, she got up and hurried down the stairs.

Who was knocking on her door at 6:00 a.m.? Opening the door, she was surprised to find Mayor Theodore standing there. She'd stopped by his house just the other day. He'd taught her the recipe for Potatoes Gratin a while back so she thought she'd bring him some that she'd made.

"Mayor Theodore!" Raye said as she smiled at the man. "What brings you by?"

"Hey, how are you?" he asked her nicely. "There's a rumor going around the village that you're doing well."

She laughed happily. "Really? I guess I'm doing okay for myself so far. I'm happy that people are speaking nicely of me. So what's going on?"

"I was just wondering. . ." Theodore began. "Isn't it about time you started thinking about getting married?"

"Me? M-Married?!" Raye said, surprised.

"Well, if it's what you'd like I want you to marry someone from the village and settle down here. In order to do that, there's one trial to complete. Are you up for the challenge?"

Blushing profusely, Raye looked down at her feet and thought it over. She'd been dating Alex for some time now and she'd known him for quite a long time it seemed. Raye loved Alex deeply and now knew that he loved her, too.

But marriage? Wasn't that a big step? Were they really ready for such a commitment? Raye took a deep breath as she considered it. She felt that she might really be ready to take the next step with Alex. The question was whether or not he was ready for it, too. The mere thought of it made her nervous and a little scared.

And yet something deep inside of her calmed her nerves just a little, told her to believe in what she had with Alex. Something told her that maybe things would be alright. And this something was what gave her the courage to look back up at Theodore and nod.

"Yes, I am up for the challenge," she told him.

Theodore nodded happily and led the way. They walked pretty far, up into an area of the village that Raye hadn't really ventured near before. She was surprised when they came to the entrance of a cave.

"On clear days like this blue birds come to the summit of Mt. Moon.," the mayor told her. "There's a story from long ago that says that a feather of the blue bird is proof of happiness. It's a custom of this village to hand over that Blue Feather when you propose."

"Well that doesn't sound too bad," Raye commented. "But why do I get the feeling that there's more to this story of yours?"

"However," he continued. "You must climb a steep cliff to get to the summit. There are people who lose heart on the climb. But you can do it! So go for it!"

Raye looked up the mountain and felt herself feeling nervous again. "I have to climb all the way up there? I'm not sure if I can do this."

Looking around, Raye noticed that Theodore was already gone. She sighed and began to climb. Doing manual labor all day long had actually helped her endurance for such a challenge, it seemed. Things weren't so bad at first.

That was, things weren't so bad until she saw a huge boulder falling down toward her!

"Aaaah!" she yelled as she hurried out of the way. The boulder barely missed her and she let out a sigh of relief. The more she climbed, the more tired she got. It was getting a little more difficult to continue the climb. And that was before things got worse!

The wind started to glow her to the right. She struggled to hold on, but it almost blew her clear off the mountain.

"Oh my gosh!" Raye said as she noticed another boulder coming at her. She moved out of the way and it missed her, but another one was falling down at her. She avoided that one as well before the wind began to blow again.

And this time, the wind was blowing her straight in the line of fire of another boulder. She tried to avoid it and she almost succeeded. But it barely hit her in the shoulder and she almost fell. But she was able to hold on. Her shoulder really hurt and she wasn't sure how she was going to complete the climb being so tired, let along being injured.

Raye stopped climbing and tried to catch her breath. Her shoulder was throbbing and her body was so tired. If she survived this, then she might just have to give Mayor Theodore a piece of her mind. She shook her head, knowing that she would never do any such thing. Her grip slipped and she started to slide down. It was at that moment that Alex's face flashed through her mind.

"Gha!" she said as she was able to grab onto a jagged rock sticking out of the mountain. It cut her hand when she caught onto it and she could see her hand start to bleed. And yet she began climbing again. The wind started back up, but she didn't let it stop her. A couple more boulders came down and they just barely missed her, but she was okay.

Raye saw that she was almost there. Suddenly, she felt extremely motivated and she climbed faster than before, eager to reach the top. And when she finally pulled herself to the top, she collapsed right there. Raye laid there for a long time, catching her breath and resisting the urge to pass out.

Taking a deep breath of the warm spring air, she struggled to stand up. What she saw took the breath she'd just taken away. The view from the top was amazing! It was so beautiful that for a minute, Raye forgot just how tired and injured she was.

"Oh, wow!" she exclaimed. "I can see my house. . .the whole town! I can see the beach, too! You can see everything from up here. . ."

It was so nice and peaceful up here. Raye felt so at ease. That was, until the throbbing in her shoulder reminded her why she'd come up here and what had happened on the way up. Shaking her head to clear her mind, she glanced around the top of the mountain and gasped. There, laying on the ground, was a beautiful blue feather.

Walking over to the feather, she slowly bent down and carefully picked it up. It was indeed beautiful. It seemed to shimmer and shine in the sunlight. And this one little feather. . .it had definitely been worth the trip. Realizing that she didn't have her rucksack with her, Raye held the feather in her hand as she took one last look of the beautiful view and then tried to make her way back down the mountain.

The trip down was just as hard, if not harder than the trip up. It felt like it had been forever since Mayor Theodore had knocked on her door and brought her here. How long had she been on this little adventure? How much time had passed? Glancing down, Raye saw that the ground was close, and she breathed a sigh of relief when her feet finally touched it.

Holding the feather against her chest, she started the walk back into town. The area up here was beautiful. There was flowers and herbs just sitting there on the ground, waiting for somebody to pick them up. But now wasn't the time for that. Right now she just wanted to get back to town before she fainted.

Wobbling down the small hills that lead up to the area, she struggled to breath, struggled to keep moving. Eventually, she entered the town. Her legs couldn't move very fast even though her mind was urging them to go a little faster. When the clinic finally came into view, Raye tried to push herself a little harder.

Her vision had become blurry, but she could make out the figure of a man running out of the clinic and running to her. She didn't need her eyes to tell her who it was when her heart already knew. Alex caught her as she stumbled and held her close. Raye could feel herself slowly losing consciousness, giving into the pain and the fatigue, yet also savoring the comfort of his embrace.

Alex picked her up and hurried into the clinic with her, taking her to the closest bed and gently laying her down. She closed her eyes and opened them again, trying to focus her vision enough to see him clearly. Though he was still a little blurry, Raye looked up at his concerned face, into his frightened eyes.

"Raye," Alex said in a tone that she'd never heard before, one of worry mixed with fear and panic. "What happened to you?! How did this happen Raye?"

She wanted to answer his questions, she really did. But before she could say a word, her eyes drifted closed and she fell asleep. When Raye finally woke up, her body still felt sore, but she felt much better. With a little more sleep she might be able to make a full recovery by tomorrow. Alex was an amazing doctor to have patched her up after she'd gotten so injured.

However, she was still very tired. Looking down, she noticed that she still had the feather held tightly against her chest, so tightly that she doubted that anybody had been able to pry her arms loose. She was alone in here, but she heard voices from the next room and strained to hear what was being said.

"She's going to be just fine Doctor," she could hear Martha saying.

"But she could have died! She seemed to be half-dead already when I brought her in here Martha! I. . .I. . .I could have lost her. . ."

"But you didn't," she heard Martha say in a sympathetic tone. "Raye is a strong young woman. Whatever she went through, she was able to make it here and she pulled through."

She heard Alex sigh. "Sure, she should be just fine in a day or two, but before she was in horrible shape. I just don't know what I would have done if she hadn't made it."

"She's been sleeping for a couple of days now. I wonder when she's going to wake up. Due to her being so injured, we haven't allowed anybody to visit her, but it's like the entire village has been trying to get in here."

"Raye's an amazing person," Alex said tenderly. "She's such a loving person who happens to be very loved."

She didn't have to see her face to know that Martha was smiling. She could hear it in her voice. "How about you go check on her? If you're lucky then maybe she's finally woken up."

The next thing she knew, she heard footsteps approaching before she saw Alex enter the room. He looked like he hadn't slept at all during the days that had passed since she'd arrived. Knowing that she'd worried him so much made her feel a little guilty. And yet what she did she did for him.

Relief washed over his face the second he realized that she was awake.

"Raye!" Alex said happily as he ran to her bed and pulled her into his arms. "You're awake! I. . .I thought that you'd. . ."

"I'm so sorry Alex," Raye said as she hugged him back. "I've worried you worse than I ever have before, haven't I?"

Alex waited a while before he answered her, content with holding her in his arms. Raye was sore so his embrace was hurting her a little, but she ignored the pain. The overwhelming joy she got from being in his arms eclipsed the pain that she felt.

Alex finally sighed as he pulled away far enough that he could look her in the eyes. "Raye, what happened to you? You were horrible condition before. I happened to be looking out of the window when I saw you and you were just barely making it here. I was so afraid that I. . .that I might lose you!"

It was her turn to sigh as she averted her gaze. "I'm sorry Alex. I wanted to make both of us happy and all I accomplished was bringing us pain. . .I'm so sorry."

"What do you mean?" he asked, confused.

"Mayor Theodore showed up at my house and took me to Mt. Moon. He told me about the feather of the blue bird. He told me that it was a custom in this village to hand it to the one you love when you. . .when you propose to them."

Suddenly, her face turned red and she buried it against his chest. Raye hadn't given any thought to how she'd propose to him, but if she had then this certainly wouldn't have been what she'd have imagined.

"Raye, you mean you climbed all the way up Mt. Moon?! No wonder you were in such bad shape. You could have fallen off the mountain and died. Or you could have gotten crushed by one of those boulders! But. . .But you went up there for the. . .blue feather?"

Raye nodded and finally dared to look at him. "I did. I made it all the way up there. It's so beautiful on top of the mountain, but what was even more beautiful than the view is. . .is this," she said as she pulled her arms away from her chest to reveal the beautiful blue feather she'd risked her life to get. "And the one I want to give this to is you, Alex."

"Raye," Alex began as he looked into her eyes. "Are you serious? Do you know what you're asking by giving me this?"

"Of course I do," Raye said as she nodded and held it out to him. "I'm asking you to be with me forever, Alex. Forever is a very long time, but there's nobody I'd rather spend it with than you. The question is, do you want to spend it with me? I know that I cause you to worry so much and that there are prettier girls out there, but. . .but. . ."

He silenced her with a finger to her lips and smiled shakily as he took the feather. "I worry about you more than anybody else, Raye, and I wouldn't have it any other way. To me, there are no prettier girls out there because you are the most beautiful one in the world. And if I were to spend forever with anybody, then for me it could only ever be you."

"So is that a yes?" Raye asked faintly as a radiant smile broke out across her face.

"Of course it is," Alex spoke softly before he leaned down and met her in a kiss. Eventually, he pulled her back into his arms and held her against his heart. She felt so right being there in his arms, against the heart that now beat only for her. And this was a feeling that he was looking forward to experiencing forever.

Looking down at Raye, he noticed that she'd fallen asleep in his arms. She was obviously still very tired. But he was sure that by the time she woke up, she'd be the same healthy Raye he'd always known.

Raye felt very nervous as she paced around the room. This was it. It was finally her wedding day. After she'd proposed to Alex, she'd slept the rest of the day. The next day had been the Egg Festival so they'd had to wait. But today was the day that they were going to get married.

When she'd told Eve about it, her best friend squealed with delight and almost knocked her over as she ran to hug her. Carl had made her giggle and even blush with his little speech about how she was such a beautiful and sweet person and how happy he was for her. Ray had looked pretty happy for her, too. He'd even given up catching a really good fish to pay attention to her when she was telling him about her wedding.

These three people were the ones who she was going to have at her wedding. Speaking of the wedding, it was going to happen pretty soon. Going over to the mirror, she looked at herself in the white gown and didn't really recognize her own reflection.

Not long after she'd arrived at home from the clinic, Mayor Theodore had rushed over. He'd felt pretty guilty about what had happened to her, but she assured him that she was okay and that she was actually very grateful that all of this had happened.

She glanced around the empty room. Edward and Gutchan were staying with Ellen for the time being. They'd been staying with her since the day that Raye had gone up to Mt. Moon so they were being taken care of.

She was surprised to find out that not only were her pets being taken care of, but so were her crops and her animals. Basil and Nina had been kind enough to look after her crops. Even the reclusive Blue had joined in. And Hank had been looking after her animals, making sure that they were taken care of.

When she had the time to, she really wanted to thank all of them for their generosity and their help. Her home. . .After today, this wouldn't only be her home. No, Alex was going to move in here with her after the wedding, actually. They were going to live here together. And getting to work would be very easy for him since it was just across the road.

Hearing a knock on the door, Raye opened it up and saw Eve.

"It's time," Eve said as she handed Raye her bouquet. "You look beautiful!"

Closing the door behind herself, Raye smiled at Eve calmly. After today, she'd be Alex's wife. And while she was still very nervous, more than anything she was happy. And that happiness was enough to offer her a level of calm.

"Raye and Alex," Theodore said as Raye stood next to Alex on Starry Hill, their special spot. "Do the two of you vow to support and love each other with affection during sickness and in health as long as you both shall live?"

Raye looked into Alex's eyes, those same warm eyes that always made her feel good no matter what, and she nodded confidently. The first time she looked into those eyes she never did imagine that she'd be looking into them on their wedding day. "I do."

Alex smiled as he raised his hand and cradled her cheek. How did it come to be that this man had come to mean so much to her? Never before had she met a person who she was sure that she could never live without. And yet here he was. "I do," Alex said with an assuring smile.

Mayor Theodore looked extremely happy himself. "Well then, vow with a kiss."

Smiling at each other, they leaned forward and in front of the people they loved most, they kissed. Wrapping her arms around his neck, Raye pulled him closer and savored the feeling of happiness. They would be together forever now. Alex may have been the entire village's doctor, but he was her husband and only hers. She smiled against his lips.

Eve, Carl, and Ray all looked so happy for her. Martha seemed to be crying while Gina looked like she was holding back tears. Dia was smiling as she offered Martha a tissue. Confetti began to fall around Raye and Alex as they walked down the aisle. Everybody was wishing them both happiness. Grabbing onto his arm, Raye laid her head against it and smiled.

'Forever with Alex,' Raye thought as they walked away from the festivities. 'Yes, I think that I can definitely handle that!'

oOOoOOoOOoOOo


	13. An Addition to the Family

Raye's Magical Melody

Chapter 13

An Addition to the Family

oOOoOOoOOoOOo

I'm back and I'm bringing everybody good news! I wrote the last chapter and when I read it, I thought that the story needed a better ending! And then I got a good idea in my head, felt really inspired, and went with it. So when it was all said and done with, I ended up writing one more chapter for the story! So I hope you are all as happy as I am! Anyway, thanks for reading and thanks to my reviewers. I hope you like this chapter, here it is.

oOOoOOoOOoOOo

Opening her eyes, Raye looked at Alex's sleeping face and smiled. It hadn't been too long since they'd gotten married. It was still spring and married life was still very new to the both of them. And yet they both seemed to be enjoying it.

Getting up and stretching, Raye got dressed and went about her normal routine. She got Edward and Gutchan their food and water and then went back upstairs to get started on some breakfast. As a doctor, Alex told her that breakfast was the most important meal of the day and that she should eat it more often.

Even though Raye didn't really care for having breakfast, she did start eating it. Opening the refrigerator, she rummaged around inside and got out some ingredients. If there was one thing she did enjoy having for breakfast, then it was definitely an omelet.

She got started on that before she went back to the refrigerator to get a carrot and some spinach. Taking them over to the blender, she stuck them inside and pressed the button to turn it on. When it was done, she went over and got a glass before she poured the veggie juice inside.

Sitting it on the table, she went to clean the blender out while she checked on her omelets. Taking the blender back to the counter she grabbed an orange and stuck it inside. Fresh orange juice sounded really good to her this morning. When it was finished, she poured that into a glass, too, and sat it onto the table before she went back to the omelets.

She was just sitting the plates onto the table when Alex came up the stairs and smiled at her.

"Good morning Doctor," she said as she hurried over to kiss his cheek.

"Good morning, Honey," he said happily as he pulled her against his chest and held her there for a while.

"You know, breakfast is going to get cold if we don't eat it," she said with a giggle before he let her go.

Alex followed her over to the table and they chatted while they ate their breakfast. Alex told her a little about what was going on at the clinic. Apparently, business was very good. She was happy that he was doing so well since she was also doing good herself.

Everything seemed to be going perfectly for her and Alex. Whenever she was out and about in the village, everybody always seemed to be asking her how they were doing. They wanted to know if the newlyweds were happy and well. She was happy that everybody seemed to be behind them.

When they were done eating, Raye made quick work of washing the dishes and following her husband downstairs. He was shrugging on that white coat of his when she made it to the bottom of the stairs.

"Have a good day at work," Raye told him before she kissed his cheek.

He smiled as he opened the door. "I'll try. Don't overwork yourself, okay?"

"Okay," she told him as he leaned down to kiss her forehead. "I'll see you later."

She watched Alex walk toward the clinic before she closed the door and grabbed her rucksack. Opening it up, she checked to see if everything she needed was in there before she headed out the door herself. It was warm and nice and a great day to work.

"Good morning!" Raye heard a familiar voice say as she closed the door.

"Oh, good morning Katie," Raye said happily.

"So how's life for two? I long for that," Katie said as she came to a stop in front of her.

"It's great so far! Alex and I are very happy."

"I'm so glad to hear that," Katie told her. Katie looked like she had something on her mind.

"What's wrong? Is there something else you wanted to talk to me about?"

Katie nodded before she took a deep breath. "I heard about how you got injured trying to get the blue feather. Is it really that tough? I mean, you could have died, right?"

"It was hard," Raye told her with a nod. "However, I went into the situation completely blind, but it was worth it. Why? Were you planning on getting the blue feather yourself and giving it to somebody? Maybe Joe?"

Katie's face went a little red and she coughed. "No, not me. I've just been hearing people talk about it a lot in the village recently. From the looks of it, Basil might be attempting the climb soon himself and I've heard of a few others, too. It seems that you and Alex getting married has started a reaction in the village."

"Well I'm not the first to do this. I'm just the unfortunate one who ended up getting hurt. But if they watch out for the boulders and be careful when it gets windy then they should be okay."

"Okay, I hope you're right. Oh my, I should be getting back to the cafe soon. Carl's probably wondering where I am and has things lined up for me to do before we can open. I guess I'll see you another time. Be sure to stop by and see us soon, okay?"

"Of course," Raye said. "I'll stop by as soon as I can. Bye Katie."

"Bye," she said as she hurried away.

After that, Raye got to work in the fields and taking care of her animals. When she got back home, it was after dark and she was tired. She'd been feeling a little weird lately, actually. But she hadn't been feeling bad enough to say anything to Alex about it.

Looking up at the clock as she sat her rucksack down, she figured that Alex should be getting home soon. Hurrying up the stairs, she went to start dinner. Before they got married, Raye had been eating out a lot. She was usually always either at Moonlight Cafe or Perch Inn when it came to dinner.

That didn't mean that she didn't know how to cook, it just meant that she preferred to let others do it for her since she was usually so busy. But when she married Alex she started to cook for the two of them.

The rest of the night passed by like it normally did. Alex came home and they had a nice dinner. Just the regular routine. It wasn't until the next morning that things began to change. The next morning, nothing would be the same again.

"Ugh," Raye groaned as she sat up in bed and put her hand over her stomach. She felt nauseous and weak.

Alex was already up and had turned the television on to watch the weather. Raye put a hand against her head and wondered what was wrong with her. Did she catch some kind of stomach virus? Well she was married to a doctor so she was sure that he'd be able to figure out what was wrong with her.

Slowly, she stood up and took a few steps away from the bed. That was a bad idea because pretty soon she collapsed onto the floor.

Alex looked over and was alarmed when he saw Raye on the floor and that her face was turning blue.

"What happened!?" Alex said as he rushed to her side. "Hang in there!"

Before she knew it, Raye had passed out. The next time she opened her eyes, it was to see Alex standing next to the bed she was lying in.

"Honey, are you awake?"

"Alex? Wait, am I in the clinic? I remember getting sick and then I fell down, right?"

Alex smiled at her. "You're not sick, so don't worry," he told her as he rubbed the back of his head and looked down. When he raised his head, he was blushing. "Ah. . .ahem. Well, actually, you're having a baby."

"A. . .A baby?!" Raye said as Alex took her hands in his.

"Yes, our baby, Honey."

"Wow," she said happily as they smiled at each other. "Is everything okay? I don't have to stay here, do I?"

He shook his head. "Everything seems fine, so let's go home. I'm a father, huh? I'll have to work hard."

"You already work hard, Doctor. And I know you'll be a great father!"

He leaned down to kiss her cheek before offering her his hand. She let him help her up and they went back home, hand in hand. They were going to be parents. It was hard to believe. Not too long ago they were still just boyfriend and girlfriend. And not long before that they weren't even together. And yet now they were bound together forever.

She was going to bring a new life into the world? That was something very, very big. She hoped that she'd be able to handle it. But with Alex there, she was somehow reassured. Maybe things would turn out good after all.

"Are you sure that you should be going out today? You are pregnant, Honey. Maybe you should ask somebody else to do your work for you for the day."

Raye sighed. "I can't Alex. I'm pregnant. There are going to be days when I feel sick and I can't have people doing all of my work for me all of the time."

"But you really should stay home and rest. It's best for you and the baby both if you take it easy. I'm a doctor, I know these things. Right Martha?"

Raye looked over at Martha expectantly, hoping that she'd help her out here. When Martha looked over, she noticed that Alex was doing the same thing.

She sighed. "Doctor, she should be okay as long as she doesn't overdo it. You're speaking to her right now as her husband, not her doctor, so you're not thinking straight. But as long as she don't work too hard, both Raye and the baby should be fine."

"Thanks Martha," Raye said.

"Now that we've gotten that out of the way. . .I can't believe that you two are going to have a baby!" Martha gushed as she hurried over to Raye and put her hand on her stomach."

She acted like that every time she saw Raye these days. She'd run over to her and put her hand on her stomach and talk about how much she loved babies and how their lives were going to change for the better.

Alex had become a bit paranoid, it seemed. It was like he was afraid something bad would happen to her and the baby if she so much as walked out of the door sometimes. Raye sighed as she finished up her work and realized how early it still was.

For some reason, she was craving something sweet and she knew just where to go.

"It's the mother to be!" Katie said as Raye entered the coffee shop.

Raye sat down in her usual spot and sighed again. "Carl, can I have some cheesecake?" she asked.

"Are you sure?" Carl asked her. "Did Alex say that sweet things would be okay for you and the baby?"

"I'm sure it'll be okay," she said tiredly. "I'll run it by him later, but until then lets just assume that it is."

"Oh, you're so cute when you're tired, Raye," Carl said as he brought her a piece of cheesecake. "But I'm sure that this will give you the boost you need.

"Thanks," she told him as she had some of the cake.

She'd better enjoy this while she could because knowing Alex, he just might tell her not to eat sweet things anymore while she was pregnant. And that was something that she was not looking forward to. She knew that as a doctor, health was important to him, but she knew that having something sweet to eat every now and then would not do any harm.

"So how do you like the cake?" Katie asked as she watched Raye eat.

"It's very good," Raye told her. "Actually, it tastes a little different than usual, did Carl do something new to it?"

Katie smiled brightly. "It tastes different because it's my recipe this time. I made it!"

"You did?!" Raye said.

"Yes. Carl said that I'd finally gotten good at baking. He told me that if I can get enough customers to say that my food is good that I can help him bake at the cafe sometimes."

"Really? I'm so happy for you," Raye said, remembering that time that Katie had gotten sick from eating her own cake. She really had come a long way since then hadn't she? Raye bet that both Carl and Ellen were very proud of her.

"You are? Thank you!" Katie said with a smile as Raye took another bite of the cake.

"She's gotten much better, hasn't she?" Carl asked as he leaned against the counter.

"She has," Raye agreed. "She's come a long way. I love it when people work hard at something and succeed, don't you?"

"Well the same goes for you," Carl said. "Don't you remember when you first came to this village? You've come a long way since then yourself! You're doing so great!"

"Ugh, I'm afraid that my ranch might go down the drain. . ."

"Why?" Katie asked.

"Alex seems to think that since I got pregnant I should stay at home all the time. He wants me to skip out on my work and push it off onto somebody else. But I don't want to do that. It's my ranch and I'm going to be the one who takes care of it, right?"

"Well there will be days when you might have to stay home since you are pregnant, but there's no need for you to have to stay home every day. You and the baby will be fine. There's no risk, right? I'm sure Alex will lighten up, he's just concerned since he's going to be a father."

Raye nodded at what Katie had said.

Having a baby sure was a new experience for her. Nothing could have prepared her for being pregnant. But she knew that there was even more to go, the part where she had to give birth to the child. And while she still had a while ahead of her before she had to do it, she knew that she wouldn't be ready until the time came.

After having she finished eating, Raye had gone over to the library and read a child psychology book. It was actually very educational for her and gave her an insight into the minds of children. Maria had suggested it to her once she'd gotten inside. It seemed that everybody in the village knew that she was expecting.

Word sure did travel fast, didn't it? But they were all happy for her and she was very happy herself. So she was going to be a parent, huh? Her and Alex, parents of a new life. She thought that it was actually great that Alex was being so protective and worried over her and the baby.

He was going to be a great father and she knew it. They were going to have a happy and healthy life together with their child, weren't they? When she'd first come to this village she never dreamed that this would be happening, but it was.

She was excited. She was ready to meet this new little person. She didn't know of it was going to be a boy or a girl. When she'd asked Alex what he wanted, he simply told her that he wanted a healthy baby. And Raye definitely agreed with him. The two of them were already discussing names and so far they had come up with a few good ones.

Whether the baby turned out to be a boy or a girl, they were going to have a name ready for it. As she walked down the road back to her house, Raye put her hand over her stomach and rubbed it gently. It was amazing, wasn't it?

This time last year she definitely wasn't married and she certainly wasn't pregnant. It sure didn't take long for things to change completely, did it? As she opened the door and stepped inside her house, she smiled. In her opinion, change wasn't a bad thing at all.

oOOoOOoOOoOOo


	14. A Peaceful Day

Raye's Magical Melody

Chapter 14

A Peaceful Day

oOOoOOoOOoOOo

Hi readers! I'm sad to say that this story is very close to being over. Only two more chapters to go. I'll try to get the last two chapters to you as soon as I can, but until then I've brought you chapter 14! Thanks for reading my story so far! And thanks to my reviewers! Well, here it is.

oOOoOOoOOoOOo

Raye placed a hand over her stomach. It was summer now and her stomach had grown larger. It made it a little more difficult to work in her fields, but she was doing okay. When spring ended she'd had a lot of work to do. Alex had been worried about her, but they'd come to an understanding when it came to her work.

He realized that her work was something that she really needed and wanted to do. And she realized that she had to be careful for her sake as well as their baby's. With that in mind, she grew less crops this summer. Since there were less crops she could still take care of her farm, but she wouldn't have to worry Alex as much. She'd bought some land a while back and used it to grow some strawberries in the spring. In the summer, however, she used the land to grow some onions.

She'd planted some corn and tomatoes, of course, and everything else, just a smaller number of them. And of course there was still her animals to be taken care of, but they weren't much trouble at all. Today, there was no work to be done because it was raining. Well she'd checked in on her animals as usual, but her crops didn't need to be watered. Normally, she'd be doing some fishing or be off in the mines, but today also happened to be a Wednesday.

Alex didn't have to go to work so he was home with her. There were both laying on the couch. She was laying on him, curled up on her side with her head against his chest. How he could stand to lay there like that with her there was beyond her. She was getting bigger and heavier, and yet he wasn't complaining at all. Laying there like that with him was so nice, so comfortable.

Raye could hear his heart beating beneath her ear and she smiled. A lot had happened since spring. They'd gotten married, found out that she was pregnant, and then Alex's birthday came around. Summer seemed far less eventful so far. Raye had gone to the beach for the Beach Festival, but she had been unable to participate this year. As a result, Jamie won and felt that he had the right to gloat.

That was before, of course, Raye gently reminded him that he only won because she was pregnant and unable to compete. When he heard her say that, Jamie responded with a "Hmph" before he turned and walked away. She was just picking at him, of course. There was no guarantee that she would have won if she'd been able to participate. She knew that he was aware she'd just been picking at him, yet his feathers had still gotten ruffled.

Raising her head, she looked at Alex and saw his eyes were closed. Had he fallen asleep? Grabbing the remote, Raye changed the channel. They'd been watching a program on the television about the upcoming Star Festival. Raye smiled as she remembered attending the festival last year. She'd gone with Alex and really enjoyed herself. She wondered if they'd go again this year.

Would he ask her to go to the festival? If they did go, she was sure that they'd have a good time again this year. The only difference was that there'd be three of them there this time instead of just two. It was amazing how much things could change in just one year. Raye directed her attention to the television. She'd changed the channel to see the weather. Nami said that the weather should be clear tomorrow. Speaking of Nami, she'd recently met her. Nami had come to Flower Bud village before during the summer, but Raye hadn't seen her.

She supposed that they just hadn't been able to run into each other before. Nami was actually very nice. Now whenever Raye watched the weather she had that "Oh, I know her!" reaction when she spotted Nami. Taking her hand off her stomach, she sat up a little and reached over, placing her hand on Alex's cheek. He'd been pretty tired when he got home last night, so it wasn't surprising that he was napping today.

Suddenly, Alex placed his hand over hers to keep it there as he opened his eyes. "Oh," she said softly, reluctant to break the comfortable silence that had fallen across the room. "I didn't mean to wake you."

"You didn't," he said before he yawned a little. "I woke up on my own."

"Did you have a nice nap?" she asked him with a smile. It was so nice being with him like this, wasn't it? So peaceful.

"I did," he told her, still holding her hand against his cheek. "I'm surprised you didn't have one, too. You usually sleep well on rainy days, don't you?"

"I do," she agreed before she yawned. "Now that you mention it, I am a little sleepy."

He smiled as he let go of her hand and placed his hand on her stomach. "Maybe you should take a nap, too, then. It'll be good for you and the baby if you get some rest."

She nodded before she laid back down, listening to the steady beat of his heart. With his heart beating in one ear and the sound of the rain in the other, Raye quickly fell into a peaceful sleep.

Alex fell back asleep, too. But he woke back up in about an hour, feeling very refreshed. Raye was still asleep and he didn't want to wake her. Carefully, he picked her up and stood, gently placing her on the couch. She looked so peaceful with her hand across her stomach as if she were already protecting their unborn child.

Looking up at the clock, Alex saw that it was already six in the evening. Raye should wake up soon. But before she did, maybe he should make her some dinner. She was the one who usually cooked, but he could cook, too. She'd be happy if she woke up to find that her dinner was already made, wouldn't she?

Going up to the kitchen, Alex rummaged around in the refrigerator for the ingredients. Finding the things he needed, he closed the refrigerator and walked over to the counter. Sitting the stuff down, he got ready to cook.

When Raye woke up, she smelled something good coming from the kitchen. 'Is Alex cooking?' she asked herself as she rubbed her eyes and yawned. She noticed that it was still raining outside as she got up from the couch and made her way over to the stairs. The higher she climbed, the better the smell got. As Raye finally reached the kitchen door, she was surprised to see Alex sitting a couple of bowls on the table.

She smiled when she realized what it was. "Alex," she said with a smile as she closed the door behind her. "You made me stew?"

He nodded. "It's my own recipe. It's very healthy so it should do you and the baby both some good."

As they sat there eating the stew, Raye wondered how it'd be within a year or two. Would there be three seats at the table? Would Raye, Alex, and the baby all be eating peacefully together? She smiled. Sure they would. While she was eating, she wondered what the baby would be like, what he or she would want to do when they grew up.

When she'd brought the subject up to Alex, he told her he hoped that the child would become a doctor and take over his business for him when he retired. Becoming a doctor was definitely something worthwhile, but Raye had told him that she hoped the baby would become whatever it was that he or she aspired to be.

His reply was that he agreed with her. As long as the child was happy then that was all that mattered, right? And then Raye even wondered what the baby would look like. The baby would look like her and Alex, of course, but she couldn't wait to see just what a combination of the two would look like. And yet however the baby turned out, she was certain that it would be beautiful.

Raye's thoughts wandered to the stew that she was eating. It was actually very good. She'd known that Alex could cook, but she was the one who usually did it. That he would do this for her was a pleasant surprise. She felt sorry for all of the other women out there who was looking for a great husband because in her opinion, she already had the best one.

Looking up, she watched him as he lifted his spoon to his lips, blowing it a little before he stuck it in his mouth. She smiled. He was always so careful, even when he ate. That was just how he was. He paid attention to whatever it was he was doing. She was a little clumsy herself from time to time.

But despite being careful, Alex was actually pretty disorganized. Raye on the other hand, kept everything around her as organized as possible. The two of them seemed to balance each other out. They were different from each other, and yet that was one of the great things about their relationship.

"Honey," Alex began.

"Hmm?" Raye said, still looking at him and lost in her thoughts.

"You're staring at me, you know," he commented before he took another bite of stew.

Raye hadn't realized she'd been staring at him, but she felt no immediate need to look away. "Sorry, is it bothering you?" she asked him as she ate some more stew herself.

He looked at her with a soft smile. "Of course not."

She returned his smile with one of her own. "So how are things at work Alex? You've been pretty tired when you get home lately. I hope nothing is wrong."

He shook his head. "On the contrary, actually. Things are going pretty good. I have more work to do, but it's not an unwelcome thing. However, I do regret that it's cutting into the time I have with you."

"It's okay," she assured him. "I understand that you have work to do."

"Speaking of work," Alex started. "You're not working too hard, are you?"

"No," she told him with a shake of her head. "I told you that I planted less crops this year so that I could have an easier time. Don't worry, the baby and I are going to be just fine."

Alex knew that Raye and the baby were doing okay and that they would continue to do okay. But he was still concerned. Before he was a doctor, he was a husband and a father. This was a new part of his life, something he'd never encountered before. So it was only natural that he would worry so much in such a situation.

But Raye seemed to be doing great, actually. And he could say that not only as her husband, but as her doctor as well. She was healthy, the baby was healthy, and she was doing her best not to put that in any danger. Sitting there, he tried to imagine the baby in his mind. Would it be a little girl with her mother's soft hair or her warm smile?

Or would it be a baby boy who resembled his father, but had his mother's eyes? He didn't know. All he knew was that however the baby turned out, he would love it. Actually, he loved it already. He loved the baby and it's mother. He smiled, thinking about the little things Raye did with the baby even though it wasn't even born yet.

Sometimes she'd lay in their bed with a book she'd checked out from the library, reading it to the baby in a gentle voice. He sometimes walked in on such a scene when he got home from the clinic. When she saw him come through the door, she'd sit the book aside and carefully get up from the bed. She'd walk over to him and kiss his cheek before taking his white coat.

Whenever he asked her what she'd been doing, she simply told him she'd been reading to the baby. This was something he'd tell the baby when it was older, about how it's mother used to read to it long before it came into the world. So whenever she would put his coat away, he'd take her hand and lead her back to the bed and pick up wherever it was she'd left off in the story, reading it to the baby as well. He supposed he'd tell the baby about how he used to read to it, too.

Raye would simply smile at him as he read from the book. She didn't have to say a word to him in those moments to let him know what she was thinking or feeling. He just seemed to know. So this was what had been missing from his life. Sure, Alex had achieved his dream of becoming a doctor, but after he did that, he still felt as if something were wrong.

Something was missing that he thought should be there. And for the longest time he didn't know what it was. But when he'd met Raye, he slowly felt the missing pieces fall into place. And now it was like the puzzle was almost complete. He'd been shocked of course, that day he saw her almost collapse near his clinic. When he'd reached her, he saw that she was in very bad shape.

He didn't know what had happened to her, but the fear that had engulfed him at that time was something he'd never felt before. He was so happy when she woke up that he didn't know what to do. And he was very surprised, of course, when she pulled her arms away from her chest to reveal the blue feather she'd worked so hard to get. This was definitely something he didn't expect. And yet he was very happy that it happened.

Raye looked up at him and saw him staring at her. "Look who's staring now," she told him with a smile and a laugh as he blinked and blushed a little. Grabbing their dishes, she took them to the sink and began to wash them out.

"Let me do that, Honey," he told her.

"It's okay," she said with a smile as she washed out one of the bowls. "You made a great dinner so I should at least wash the dishes."

"How about this," he told her as he took the bowl when she finished washing it and dried it. "You can wash and I'll dry."

"That sounds good. You're really on top of things today, aren't you?" she said with a smile before she kissed his cheek and washed a spoon.

He smiled back at her as he put the bowl away and took the spoon she just washed. The dishes were done in no time and they put the rest of the stew in the refrigerator. He made them a couple of cups of herb tea and they went back to the couch. As Raye sipped on her tea she read a book and Alex looked over some papers he'd brought home from the clinic.

Time passed by and it was nearing the end of summer. The two of them attended the Star Festival like Raye had wanted and they'd gone to the Firefly festival. The two of them enjoyed themselves more this year than the last. However, the Fireworks festival was when something really special happened.

"You've gotten so big!" Eve said as she hurried over and put her hand on Raye's stomach. She hadn't been the first person to say that to Raye today and Raye was sure she wouldn't be the last.

"I'm getting bigger all the time," Raye said. "I'm starting to look like a blimp."

"Nonsense," Eve said as she shook her head. "You're not a blimp, right Alex?"

Alex smiled and kissed Raye's forehead. "Of course not. It's good that you're big Honey. It means that both you and our baby are healthy. Besides, I think you look beautiful."

Eve blushed as she looked back and forth between Raye and Alex. "Wow," Eve said suddenly. "You really have one of the good ones, Raye."

Raye giggled. "You have a good one, too, you know," Raye said as she pointed behind Eve.

Eve turned around and saw Dan waving at her. "Maybe you're right," she said happily. "I'll catch you two later, okay?" With a bright smile, she hurried off to meet up with Dan.

"Hey, it's finally the main event!" Theodore said finally. Raye and Alex watched the fireworks, standing in the same spot they did the year before. But somehow the fireworks looked even better this year.

"Wow," Raye said softly.

"I know," Alex said while looking up at the sky. "They're beautiful, right?"

"They are," Raye said. "But that's not what I'm talking about."

When Alex looked at her she was smiling brightly. "What is it?"

"Here," she told him as she took his hand and placed it over her stomach. "Do you feel it?"

Alex just stood there at first, but then his eyes grew wide and he began to smile, too. So what made him smile? It was the feel of their baby kicking beneath his hand. And in Raye and Alex's opinion, that was even more beautiful than the fireworks lighting up the night sky.

oOOoOOoOOoOOo


	15. Welcome to the World

Raye's Magical Melody

Chapter 15

Welcome to the World

oOOoOOoOOoOOo

Hello everyone! So we've finally reached chapter 15. This was originally going to be the last chapter, but I decided I wanted another. So sadly, the next chapter is the last one. But in the meantime you can be happy about having a new chapter to read! I want to say thanks to my readers and to my reviewers! I'm so happy you've continued to read my story and reading the reviews brightens my day! So here's chapter 15!

oOOoOOoOOoOOo

'It's almost six o'clock, huh?' Raye thought as she opened her eyes and spotted the clock. 'Ugh.'

Her birthday had been a few days ago. She'd felt so good then. People throughout the town had wished her a happy birthday and she'd been so happy. Alex had gone out of his way to make the day great for her and she'd really felt so good at the time. Now, however. . .

She felt a little weird today. She didn't want to alarm Alex, but she was experiencing some pain. Glancing over, she saw that he was still asleep, but he would probably be getting up soon. Pushing the covers back, she sat up and rubbed her stomach, frowning as she did. Something definitely wasn't right. As she stood up, she felt a sharp pain.

"Ow!" she exclaimed. She heard Alex stir and then sit up. She'd yelled and it must've woken him up.

'Was that a contraction?' she thought suddenly. 'A-Am I in labor?'

Alex saw her standing there and the pain that she was in. "Honey, are you okay?" he asked as he jumped out of bed and hurried to her side.

She shook her head as she felt another pain. "Alex. . .I think it's time!"

He looked up at the clock with a confused look on his face. "For work? I still don't have to go in for a while yet, but. . ."

"No, not that!" she interrupted before he could finish his sentence. "I mean the baby's coming!"

"You mean you're in labor?!" he asked excitedly, finally understanding what she was talking about.

Raye nodded. "I think so," she told him.

The father part of him was excited yet panicking. However, the doctor part of Alex was able to take control. "Honey, just calm down. Everything's going to be okay," he told her calmly as he put his hands on her shoulders. Raye nodded and before she knew it, Alex gently picked up her and hurried her to the clinic.

"Argh!" Raye yelled. Was this what it felt like to give birth to a child? Would her baby really be alright? Would she be alright? Would they both survive this?! It was so painful! She felt like she could die if she had to experience this any longer.

"Hang in there!" Martha told Raye. "Don't push so much! Calm down!"

"Honey, are you okay?!" Alex asked as he rushed into the room. "Raye, please hang in there! You can do this, okay? Both you and the baby will be just fine, I'm sure you will."

"Out of the way, out of the way!" Martha told him as she turned around. "Until the child is born, you wait over there!"

Raye looked up at Alex and tried to calm herself down. "Alex," she said as she struggled to breathe. "You're. . .y-you're right. Both of us will be okay. Thank you."

He gave her a reassuring smile as he nodded and left the room like Martha told him. He'd told Raye they'd be okay, but in truth he wasn't so sure. He was very worried. The husband and father side of him had pushed the doctor back. He stood outside of the room and paced back and forth, wondering if his wife and child really would be okay. Alex wondered when it would be over and he would finally hear his baby cry.

And right when he was thinking that, he heard it. "Hagyaaaaaa!" he heard the voice of his child cry out from the room.

"Yes!" Alex said happily as he threw his arms up before he hurried back into the room.

When he came inside, he saw Raye laying there on the bed. She looked exhausted, but she was also very happy and excited. In her arms, he saw the baby wrapped in a blue blanket. 'It's a boy,' he thought happily. 'Raye and I. . .We have a son!'

"Look, what a cute baby," Martha said with a bright smile and tears of joy. "The eyes are like its mother's!"

Raye looked down at the baby with happiness and relief. Both of them had gotten through this. And no matter how painful it had been, it was definitely worth it. Her baby was here and he was healthy. "Alex," Raye said to him with a radiant smile on her face. "I-I'd like you to meet our son! He's just fine, we both are. Would you. . .like to hold him?"

Looking down at both Raye and the baby, he smiled, too. He was so happy and relieved and proud. Everything had turned out just fine. Both his wife and his child were here in front of him. His child. . .Alex looked at his child with such joy that he could even begin to describe it. Nodding slowly, he reached out and carefully took the baby from Raye.

As he held the baby close, cradling him in his arms, he kissed him on the forehead. "I'm so happy you are both okay! You did great Honey. And look at him, he's so beautiful! I know we haven't discussed it in a while, but what do you think we should name him?"

Raye wiped away her tears of happiness as she nodded. She'd been thinking about a name for him for a long time. And while she'd changed her mind time and time again, she finally knew what name she wanted to give to the child. "Julian," she told him as she reached up and stroked the baby's soft cheek. "I want to name him Julian."

With a bright smile, Alex nodded. "That's a great name," he told her joyfully. "Our son will be called Julian." Raye and Alex then looked at each other lovingly, so happy that the day had finally arrived when they would be able to meet their child.

They heard footsteps approaching before Woody came inside the room. He smiled at the two of them and their newborn baby. "Congratulations! I heard that you had a baby," he told them. "Here's a crib in celebration of the event. Show me where I should put it."

Alex looked down at the baby and kissed his cheek before he gave him back to Raye. "I'll help you with that. Honey, I'll be right back."

She nodded before she watched him leave the room. And he was right, it didn't take him long to come back.

"Well then," Martha said as Alex came back into the room. "It's okay to go home, but let your wife rest for a while. Alex nodded happily before Martha rushed over and hugged him. She hugged Raye as well and kissed the baby's cheek.

Soon after, Raye, Alex, and the baby finally went home. Martha watched them go with so much happiness that she didn't know what to do with herself. But as happy as she was, she could only imagine how happy the couple that had just left must have been.

"Honey," Alex called as he held the baby, who was crying.

"Coming," Raye called from the kitchen. Getting what she came for, Raye hurried back down the stairs and handed Alex the milk. He sat on the couch with their son in his arms, feeding him the milk. Raye smiled tenderly as she watched them together. Looking up at the clock, she noticed that it was about time for the both of them to get going. Since both of them had to work, the baby had to be somewhere, right?

Hearing a knock on the door, Raye went over and answered it. "Good morning Martha," Raye said as she came inside and gave her a quick hug before she hurried over to the baby.

"Good morning," Martha said before Alex handed the baby over to her and went to put on his white coat.

Sure, Martha worked with Alex at the clinic, but she had volunteered to watch the baby while the two of them were gone. Gina agreed to take on some of Martha's responsibilities and Martha would pick up the rest when Raye came home and she could go back to the clinic. It was a reasonable arrangement that Alex had quickly approved.

"Here is Julian's rattle and here is his storybook," Raye said as she pulled them out of the tool box and sat them on the table near Martha. "And the milk is in the refrigerator as you know. I'll try to get back as soon as I can, okay?"

"You don't have to rush yourself," Martha told her with a smile. "Little Julian and I will be just fine."

"Mommy and daddy have to go now, okay?" Raye said to Julian before she leaned down and kissed her son's cheek. "I'll see you soon."

Alex kissed his forehead and grabbed Raye's rucksack for her on their way out the door. Raye had a lot of work to do. She'd stayed home with the baby for a while so her farm had suffered a little. These days she was paying the price and had a lot of work to do. There were days when Alex had taken care of the baby so Raye could get some work done, but he had a clinic to run, didn't he?

Closing the door behind them, Alex handed Raye her rucksack and gave her a quick kiss. "Have a nice day Honey," he told her with a warm smile.

"You, too," she told him with a smile that matched his. "I'll see you when you get home, okay?"

"Okay," he told her. "Bye."

She waved at him as he went to the clinic before she went on about her work.

It was half a year later. So much had happened and the baby had grown so much. Julian had gotten bigger and so lively. Raye and Alex had their hands full with him and they wouldn't have it any other way. As Raye woke up, she saw Alex with Julian, raising him up in the air as the baby laughed happily. Such a sight warmed her heart so much. Sitting the baby down, Alex looked over and saw that Raye was awake.

"Oh, you're awake?" he said as she sat up and started to get out of bed.

"Yeah," she told him with a smile as she stood up and stretched.

"Honey, if it's possible, will you please come home early tonight?" Alex asked her as Raye proceeded to make up the bed she'd just gotten out of.

"Of course," she told him before she gave him a kiss on his cheek and went to check on the baby before getting ready for her day. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Great," he told her as he watched her look after the baby. Tonight was a special night, wasn't it? Only a year ago, his life started to completely change for the better. And it was all because of Raye and the wonderful life she'd given him.

Raye went on about her work that day as usual. But for some reason it seemed to take longer than she thought it did since she couldn't wait to get home. All Alex had said was that he wanted her to come home early. But he didn't say anything about why. She laughed a little as she finished watering the turnips she grew just for him. Did he think she'd forgotten? After all, it was just last year that so many things started to happen, right?

While she thought about that, she went on about her work and before she knew it, she was done. Humming happily, she started on her way home. When she reached her destination, she opened the door and walked inside. "I'm home," she called as she sat her rucksack down and closed the door.

"Welcome home," Alex said as she crossed the room and went to sit something down on the table next to their bed. "Well, what do you think it is today?"

Raye smiled at him before she gave him a kiss. "It's our wedding anniversary, of course!" she told him.

"That's right. It's our wedding anniversary isn't it?" he told her as he wrapped his arms around her and gave her a hug. "And I thought we should have homemade food. Let's eat together."

Their anniversary had been great, hadn't it? And to think that this time last year she'd recently been seriously injured and not long after their wedding they found out that she was pregnant. So much had happened, hadn't it? It was near the end of spring when another amazing thing happened.

Raye had just fed Julian and Alex had been upstairs when suddenly he came down. "Honey, I just remembered. We forgot the baby's checkup."

Raye blinked. They hadn't forgotten it, hadn't they? "Oh, you're right," she told him. Glancing at the clock, she nodded. "But we haven't missed it. Martha's probably waiting so we should hurry."

The three of them went to the clinic so that Martha could take a look at the baby. After taking a look at Julian, Martha nodded. "Everything's fine, the picture of health," Martha told them. And it was after that when the most amazing thing happened. Julian got up and began to walk! "Well, well, well!"

"Alex, look! He took his first steps!" Raye said happily as she held her arms out and watched in amazement as the boy walked to her. Picking him up, she held him against her chest in a happy hug.

"Our son can walk," Alex said happily. Raye handed Julian to him so that Alex could hold him, too.

"Children grow up so quickly," Martha told them. "From now on you can't leave Julian alone for a second."

Raye nodded. Martha was right, wasn't she? From now on they'd have to keep their eyes on Julian even more. But that was a responsibility that neither Raye or Alex minded at all.

Alex had come home a little early. When he entered the house, he was surprised to see what was waiting for him. There was Raye, laying on the couch asleep with their sleeping child laying on her stomach. He wasn't worried about Julian falling off because Raye had her arm wrapped securely around him. The two of them looked so peaceful as they slept. He supposed that the both of them had gotten tired out. Maybe Raye and Julian had played so hard that they'd gotten really tired. After all, Raye had a lot of energy and it seemed that their child had gotten that from her.

After standing over them for a while, watching them sleep, he decided to move the two of them. Carefully moving Raye's arm and picking Julian up, he took him over to his crib and put him inside. The baby didn't even stir, luckily. He looked down at his son and wondered what kind of man he would grow up to be. He was growing so fast that Alex knew he'd be grown up in the blink of an eye and he'd be left looking back on his memories wondering where the time had gone.

Next was Raye. Going over to her, he gently lifted her up and held her in his arms. She was rather light. Was she not eating right these days? Some nights he wasn't able to make it home in time for dinner so he didn't know how she was eating. Taking her over to the bed, he laid her down on her side and pulled the sheet over her. She stirred and almost woke up, but she stayed asleep.

Raye had attended a couple of weddings recently. Basil and Nina had finally decided to tie the knot. Raye had been so happy for them as she watched them getting married. The next ones to get married had been Carl and Ellen. Raye had almost cried as she watched Carl, who other than Eve was her best friend, get married. She was so happy for him. And as Raye opened her eyes after taking a very refreshing nap, she wondered if Eve would be getting married soon, too. Eve and Dan had been spending a lot of time together. They were so close these days that Raye wouldn't be surprised if Eve came running into her house tomorrow telling her that they were engaged.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Raye smelled food. And the food smelled good. Checking on Julian, who seemed to be waking up, too, she went upstairs to see what was going on. "You're home!" Raye said as she came into the kitchen and saw Alex finishing up dinner. "Let me do that Alex. You must be tired since you've been working so much lately," she told him as she gently pushed him aside and took over making the food.

"It seems like you and Julian are tired, too. I came home and found the two of you asleep, so I decided to make dinner."

"We're just fine. How about you go get Julian? I think he's waking up."

With a nod, Alex went downstairs at got Julian. Pretty soon, the three of them were seated at the table and eating. Raye smiled at Alex as she thought about a memory that was coming back to her. Last year she was sitting at the table with Alex, dreaming about how one day they'd be sitting at the table as a family of three. It was a beautiful dream that had finally become a reality.

Finally, fall came around. Both Raye and Alex had been so excited all season long. But why, you ask? Julian had his first birthday, actually. They threw him a little party with just the three of them. It had been so wonderful and Julian had been so happy. He was growing so much and so fast. He was such a well behaved baby. Raye and Alex felt so lucky.

Now that Julian could walk, he'd actually started to run. And run he did! He ran all over the house with Edward and Gutchan close behind. The three of them were best friends, it seemed. And Julian really seemed to love the two pets. Raye smiled. She was sitting on the couch with Alex as she watched the three of them playing. It was such a peaceful day, a wonderful day. She laid her head on Alex's chest and smiled.

If she could then she'd freeze this moment in time so that she could experience it forever. She was so happy, her family was happy. The day she'd decided to move to Flower Bud village had been the beginning for her, hadn't it? She didn't ever want it to end. Upon hearing a knock at the door, Raye got up and answered it. Eve ran inside and gave Raye a hug.

"Well you sure seem happy," Raye commented as Eve smiled from ear to ear.

"I am," Eve told her before she pulled something out from behind her back.

"A blue feather!" Raye said happily as Eve looked down at the feather with the happiest smile Raye had ever seen on the young woman's face. "I guess that means I'll be going to another wedding!"

"Congratulations," Alex told her with a smile before he went over to grab Julian, who had finally gotten tired out and looked like he was close to falling asleep. Raye figured that it was about time for him to take a nap anyway.

So Eve was getting married now, too? Raye smiled. She'd seen so many things since she'd first come to this village. She'd experienced so much. As she finished talking to Eve about the wedding and closed the door behind her, she hoped that Eve could experience the joy of having a family just like Raye was right now.

Alex had sat down on the couch with Julian in his arms. The baby was just about to fall asleep. Raye kissed Julian's cheek and smoothed down his soft hair before she sat down next to Alex and laid her head back on his chest. Right there in that moment, for Raye, life was absolutely perfect.

oOOoOOoOOoOOo


	16. Family

Raye's Magical Melody

Chapter 16

Family

oOOoOOoOOoOOo

Well I'm back everybody and it's finally time. This is the last chapter of the story. I really enjoyed writing this story and I hope you enjoyed reading it! Thanks for reading my story! I'm so happy you did! And thanks to my reviewers for letting me know what you think about my story! I'm so glad you liked it! So I guess I should be wrapping things up now and letting you get to the chapter. Here is the last chapter of Raye's Magical Melody. I really hope you like it!

oOOoOOoOOoOOo

Their comfortable life as a family was so wonderful that before Raye knew it, years had passed by! Just short of twenty one years, to be exact. Twenty one long years that felt so short. That young woman who had first come to Flower Bus village many years ago had become an excellent farmer. The intelligent doctor who had taken her heart was more brilliant and successful than ever. And that beautiful baby boy who had filled their lives with so much joy had grown up.

Where did all those years go? That was what Raye was wondering as she got rid of the weeds that caught her eye. When did that child she brought into the world stop being a child? When did he become a handsome and mature young man? Sometimes she wanted to cry. Not because she was sad, though sometimes the very thought did make her feel sad. No. She cried because of how proud she was.

Alex was still working as a doctor, but these days he got great joy from teaching their son the ropes when it came to medicine. Julian had decided early on that he wanted to follow in his father's footsteps and become a doctor. Raye had been so proud of him then. She would have been proud if he'd decided to be a farmer instead or if he'd decided on something completely different altogether. The point was that Julian was doing what made him happy. And that was more than enough to make Raye happy as well.

Julian had been only a little boy when he'd started spending some of his days with Alex at the clinic. Of course he didn't stay there all day. He'd usually go home with Raye whenever she finished up her work for the day since Alex stayed at the clinic until night. That was, he'd stay there at the clinic with Alex when he wasn't in school. Dia had finally regained her strength and gotten healthy.

But neither Dia nor Gina had really wanted to leave Flower Bud village once she got better. So they stayed. After Dia married Kurt, she decided to open up a school. It surprised Raye since she didn't know that Dia liked children in the first place, but apparently she did. Many couples in Flower Bud village had started families, so they greatly appreciated having a school to send their children to.

"Penny!" Raye called as she finished with the weeds and watered the tomatoes in front of her.

"What is it mom?" she heard her daughter say as she finished watering the corn in the field nearby and entered the field Raye was watering. It was in the winter and soon after Julian's second birthday that Raye and Alex received some pleasant news. Raye was pregnant with their second child. It was a tough summer when their daughter, Penelope, was born. Raye's farm had been thriving, it seemed, before a typhoon came and wiped out many of her crops.

It had put some stress on her, Alex, and both babies. But they had been strong enough as a family to pull through. And after the disaster of the typhoon, Raye was able to get back on track and make her farm better than before. Just as Julian had formed a quick interest in becoming a doctor, Penelope had fallen in love with farming, it seemed. From as far back as Raye could remember, Penny wanted to go with her into the fields when she was working. Penny was just a baby, but she'd sit there and watch Raye work while she sat on a soft blanket Raye would lay down for her.

Most of the time either Edward or Gutchan would come along to keep her company. Raye would get done fixing a fence or watering a plant when she'd look up and see her daughter asleep on the blanket, curled up next to the dog or pig, who would be wide awake and keeping a watchful eye on the little girl. As soon as Raye had felt that Penny was old enough to help her work on the farm, she'd let her do that. And thanks to that, Raye was able to get her work done faster and expand her farm more.

Penny had started to enter the festivals of the village. Whenever she did, Raye decided not to enter herself. After all, one representative from their family was more than enough. And Penny was good, really good! Raye felt so proud watching her daughter beat Jamie like she had for so long. Like mother like daughter, right?

"Mom?" Penelope said as she waved her hand in front of Raye's face.

Raye shook her head to clear her river of thoughts away. She'd called Penny over and then got lost in thought. "I'm sorry Penny, I was just lost in my own thoughts, I guess. Anyway, I'm finished with my work here. If you're done with your work, how about we go take a break?"

Penelope's face quickly brightened. She knew that taking a break meant that the two of them would be going to Cafe Callaway. Not only had Penny inherited her mother's love of farming, but she'd also received her love of desserts. As Penny walked ahead of her on their way to the cafe, she smiled. The desserts weren't Penny's only reason for getting so happy about going to the cafe. No. As they opened the door and went inside, Raye spotted the other reason sweeping the floor around a nearby table.

"Aaron!" Penelope said before she ran over to him and threw herself into his arms, making him drop the broom and almost fall over.

"Penny!" Aaron blushed and laughed as she stepped back and gave him a happy smile. "Take it easy on me, will you? You almost knocked me over that time."

"Well neither of us fell, so it's okay," she told him before she sat down at the table he'd been sweeping around and watched him sit down across from her. Aaron was Penny's best friend and had been since they were babies. It was pretty nice since Aaron's father, Carl, was one of Raye's best friends.

Raye went to sit down in her usual spot and smiled brightly when she saw Carl come out from the back of the cafe. "Hey there stranger," she said happily as he quickly got her a piece of cheesecake and sat it down in front of her.

"Stranger, huh?" he said with a laugh, a laugh his son had gotten from him. "And here I thought I saw you just yesterday!"

They both laughed and Raye ate her cheesecake. Aaron got up from the table to go get Penelope a piece of cheesecake, too. Ellen was taking care of her father over at the Blue Sky Ranch. Hank wasn't in the best health these days, but other than that, he was doing okay. Since he couldn't take proper care of the ranch anymore, Blue and his sons had stepped up to take care of things. Ann, who had married Blue, was busy taking care of the Junk Shop with Michael, who had finally remarried. And since he married Liz, Ann and Nina were now stepsisters!

Raye and Penny sat there eating and chatting and restoring their strength. Eventually, though, they realized that they had to get back to work. Penelope's birthday had passed not too long ago and she'd turned eighteen. Nineteen was just around the corner for her, wasn't it? And Julian was going to turn twenty one soon. Just thinking about how old her children were made Raye feel a little old. And yet she knew that she still had a few decades ahead of her!

As the two of them finished up their work, they started on their walk home. The village had changed so much throughout the years, hadn't it? And yet Raye could still remember how it looked when she'd first laid her eyes on it. Walking down the same path she had for such a long time, the house came into sight. Penny yawned and stretched as they entered the house before she walked into her room. Having two children, it became obvious to Raye and Alex that they needed some more rooms. So Raye had gone to Woody and he'd gladly added onto the house. That was the last project he'd taken on for Raye.

No, Woody wasn't dead. But he certainly was very old. Woody had retired and left Kurt and Joe to run the business. He'd trained them well and together they did an excellent job. Raye would go to visit Woody from time to time to make sure he was doing okay. Glancing at the clock, Raye saw that it was past six. She'd wanted to go shopping today and get a few things from the Blue Sky Ranch and the Spring Farm, but she supposed she couldn't go today. The Spring Farm was doing well. These days when she went there, she'd often find Nina and Basil's daughter standing behind the counter. With her pink hair and happy smile, she reminded Raye of the both the girl's mother and grandmother.

After a while, Raye figured that it was time go start dinner. Alex and Julian were both working over at the clinic and she knew that they would be pretty hungry once they got home. She hummed her usual song as she made some Potato Gratin using the same recipe that the mayor had taught her so long ago. Julian loved it. Julian loved potatoes point blank. He loved fruit and vegetables and especially appreciated the food his mother cooked with the crops she had grown.

Raye hadn't been paying attention, but at some point Penny had come upstairs and set the table for her before she'd returned to her room. When the food was almost done, Raye looked at the clock and shook her head. It was past time for her husband and son to come home, wasn't it? The two of them always got so wrapped up in their work. Luckily for them they had her to keep them from overworking themselves. "Penelope," Raye said as she came down the stairs and stuck her head in the doorway of the girl's room. "I'm going to the clinic. I should be back soon, but could you keep an eye on the food? It's almost done so you can turn it off soon."

"Sure," she said as she got off her bed and headed upstairs. Leaving the house, Raye made the short walk to the clinic. Opening the door and going inside, Raye was immediately greeted by Martha. Martha was still working at the clinic. Though she'd gotten older and Raye had recommended to her on more than one occasion that maybe she should try to take it more easy, the woman was still full of energy.

"Hello Raye," Martha said as Raye closed the door and glanced around. "I guess you came to retrieve your family, right?"

"Hi Martha," Raye said with a nod and a smile. "Where are they?"

Martha pointed toward the room that Alex now used as an office. Going over to the room, she didn't even bother to knock before she walked inside. The two of them were so into their work that she doubted that they would have noticed if she did knock. They were looking at some papers and discussing something. Raye didn't really understand since they were using medical jargon, but one thing she did understand was that it was time for them to go home.

"Don't you think you should wrap things up here and come get something to eat?" Raye said as she put one hand on Alex's shoulder and the other on Julian's. Both of them looked up at her and were surprise to see her since neither of them had noticed her come in.

"Hey Honey," Alex said before he gave her a loving kiss and stacked the papers together. Julian got out of his seat and swept her up into a hug. Raye giggled as he hugged her. When he put her down, he leaned down and let her kiss his cheek.

"Hi mom," he finally said as he took a step back and went to gather together the papers he'd been looking over.

"Don't you "hey Honey" and "hi mom" me. You two should be home already, you know."

They both looked at her as if they'd been caught with their hands in the cookie jar. She fought to keep the stern look on her face since right now she really wanted to laugh. "Well I'd say we're done here for the night. Right Julian?" Alex said as he put the papers he'd stacked into a folder that he put in a drawer of his desk.

"Right you are, dad," Julian said before he did the same. With that done, Raye lead the two of them out of the clinic and back to their house. As the four of them sat around the table, eating their dinner, Raye remembered at time when it was just her sitting there and eating her dinner alone. She remembered the time before she married Alex and started a family. It seemed like so long ago that this house had been so empty.

Raye was very excited when she woke up the next day. She was always excited this time of year, wasn't she? As she opened her eyes, she saw Alex was already awake and was watching her. As she turned her head and met his gaze, she smiled. Raye smiled before she curled up and cuddled closer to him, laying there for a little while longer. When she heard the sound of their kids moving around in their rooms, however, she knew that it was time to get up.

Raye got dressed and headed upstairs to make breakfast. Today was the Star Festival. It was a very special day to Raye and Alex since many years ago it was on the night of the Star Festival that they'd had their first date. The clinic was closed, but Raye still had some work to do for the farm. However, she told Penny that she could take the day off. To Raye's surprise, Julian had volunteered to help her with her work.

He hadn't done that in years, it seemed. Julian used to come help her and Penny work. And while Julian didn't quite feel the same way about it that they did, he was actually very good at it. Raye supposed that it as the same as how Penny could just as easily help Alex out at the clinic. Julian offered Raye his arm and she took it. Together, they headed out to work. When had her baby boy grown up? She could still remember reading him stories as he fell asleep at night when he was still a baby.

"Julian," Raye said as she checked on the windmill that Woody had built for her a long time ago. It needed a few minor repairs and she made herself a mental note to see Kurt and Joe sometime soon and let them know she needed their help.

"What is it mom?" he asked as he hammered away at a part of the fence that had somehow gotten broken.

"Do you remember when you disappeared? Your father and I were out of our minds with fear because we wouldn't find you."

He laughed and stopped what he was doing to turn and look at her. "Of course I remember. I had walked off on my own and went to the moonlight cave to try to get some pontata roots. I thought that if I got some then I would be able to help dad. But why are you thinking about that?"

Raye smiled at him and shook her head. "I was so worried about you then. You were gone and I didn't know what had happened to you. It wasn't until I noticed that my hoe was missing that Alex and I realized where you were. We were so relieved when we found you in that cave covered in dirt with that pontata root in your hand."

"Mom. . ."

"The point is that I know you aren't that little boy anymore, but regardless of that, I am always going to worry about you. . ."

Julian sighed and walked over to Raye before he gave her a hug. "Mom, I'm sorry I worried you so much the other day. I know that when you climbed Mt. Moon you got hurt pretty badly. But look, I made it okay, didn't I?"

He had indeed worried her. Julian had decided to climb Mt. Moon to get the blue feather. Raye had been afraid he would get hurt since she had when she climbed the mountain. Over the years, other people had gotten hurt a little while on their way up Mt. Moon. A boulder had caught Louis by surprise and he'd gotten a broken arm. But other than that he got the blue feather and was just fine and was able to propose to Lyla. Tim had gone up the mountain, too, and let the wind blow him off. He'd gotten hurt a little himself, but had come out of it okay.

So when Julian had announced to Raye and Alex that he was going to climb Mt. Moon, too, of course Raye had been worried. But he'd gotten up and down the mountain completely unscathed. Raye had been so happy to see Julian return home with the blue feather in his hand and no injuries that she could see, but of course she'd had to check to make sure he wasn't hurt anywhere and then got Alex to confirm that Julian was okay.

"I just can't believe it. . .It's like it was only yesterday that your father and I found out I was pregnant with you and now you're going to get married?"

Julian laughed and shook his head. "Maybe, maybe not. It all depends on whether or not Madison says yes."

"Yes to what?" Raye heard a familiar voice say.

"Hey Eve," Raye said happily as she hurried over to her. Even after all these years, Eve was still one of her best friends. In fact, they were even better friends now than ever before. As she came to a stop in front of Eve, she caught sight of Eve's daughter, Madison. "Hello Madison!"

"Hi," Madison said with a bright smile as she gave Raye a little hug. Over the years Raye had seen a lot of Madison. In the beginning she'd been Julian's best friend. But as time passed, Raye watched their friendship transform into love.

"Hey Maddy," Julian said happily as he waved at the girl.

"Li!" Madison said before she hurried over to his side and smiled up at him. Madison grabbed his arm before she let him lead her away on what was sure to be a peaceful walk.

"They make such a cute couple!!" Eve said as she lead Raye away toward the bridge where she liked to stand. "So Julian got the blue feather, right?"

Raye nodded and looked down at the water. "Yes, he got it. And the house he wanted to have built was completed recently. Can you believe it Eve? It's like just yesterday that the two of them were just babies. And now, if Madison says yes, they're going to get married."

Eve smiled and looked down at the water, too. "I know Madison is going to say yes when he asks her. The two of them are very young, but I think that they'll be just fine."

As she stood there with Eve, she noticed Joe nearby. He must have been getting some fishing in before the festival started. Joe and Katie had gotten married and started a family of their own. It seemed that after Raye and Alex got married, all of the couples in the village had. Everybody in the village had become so happy. As the day flew by, Raye and Julian returned home. Alex and Penelope were sitting on the couch watching the television. Apparently Penny had fallen asleep since she was laying against Alex's arm with her eyes closed.

Gutchan had fallen asleep, too, though Edward was still awake. Julian whistled and Edward ran to him and came to a stop in front of his feet. Julian played with Edward for a while and Edward barked at him happily. Edward and Gutchan were both very old, so it didn't take Julian long to tire Edward out. But Raye was happy that they were both still there. Finally, it was time to go to the festival. Julian left the house to go get Madison. Tonight was the night that he was planning on asking her to marry him. Aaron had asked Penelope if she would go with him to the festival, so she was busy in her room getting ready.

When Penny had left to meet up with Aaron, Raye and Alex went to the same spot they'd gone to the very first time. Raye sat there, cuddled up next to Alex and recalled their first time attending this festival together. She remembered how they'd gotten so flustered after seeing Basil and Nina kiss. Now, neither of them got flustered at all. Raye looked up at Alex and gave him a happy smile before he leaned down and kissed her gently.

The time finally came. Alex grabbed the small boat from where it was sitting on the other side of him. When he stood up, he offered Raye his hand and helped her to stand, too. Together, the two of them went to the small dock and slowly lowered the boat into the water. And then both of them sat back down and watched the boat float down the river. It got quiet.

As they sat there, Raye remembered all of the happy times she'd had with her family. She remembered falling in love with Alex. She remembered their wedding day. She remembered the birth of her children and when they took their first steps. She remembered watching the little boy and girl she'd given birth to grow up. She remembered their voices and their laughter over the years, a testament to the happiness they'd all had together. And these sounds of happiness. . .To her, they made the most beautiful song Raye had ever heard. And that was when Raye understood that this wonderful family who brought so much happiness to her life. . .They were her music, they were that beautiful song, the most wonderful tune in the world. As Raye sighed contentedly, she grabbed Alex's arm and held it close. To her, that family was Raye's Magical Melody.

The end.

oOOoOOoOOoOOo


End file.
